If i could want anything for you, what would i want? In Romans 12 & 13, Paul lays out for us a list of good things we should want for ourselves and others.
It would seem that most of us are primarily concerned with what we would want for ourselves, but i thought it a good question, “What Do I Want For You?” i’ve been pondering this. God cares about the details of our lives, willing everything in and about us into transformation. Ok, that said, here’s what I want you to do, with God’s help of course:
Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, your work-a-day world and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do. i would want you to not become so well-adjusted to our culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, i would want you to fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. i’d want you to recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Now there’s a word for today: Respond. i’d like that for all people, everywhere: Respond. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God will bring the best out of you, and develops well-formed maturity in you.
Living then, as you do, in pure grace, i would want for you to not misinterpret yourself as someone who is bringing their goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by who and what the Lord is, by what He says to us and what He does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.
Seeing as how a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe doesn’t amount to much in and of itself, as a standalone person as in not part of anything else, and neither do we. No one is a light unto themselves. We are not our own beginning and end, nor are we our own mother and father. Since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, i want you to just go ahead and be what you were made to be, without envy or pride, comparing yourself with anyone else, or trying to be someone you aren’t. i feel quite certain that when we out run our gifting, giving ourselves titles which are beyond who God said we were, we can easily be run aground, wondering how we got there. i would want for you to never get lost in the arrogance of counting yourself too high, or comparing yourself with those who commend themselves. You know the ones….they measure themselves using themselves as their standard, and even compare themselves among themselves, let me say tho, it just makes for a lot of wounded people. Just don’t go there. Take it from me, been there, done that, bought that t-shirt, don’t want to buy another one.
If you preach, faithfully preach God’s heart, nothing else; if you help, genuinely help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond. Oooo. There’s that word again: Respond. There is a difference between mentoring and taking charge of someone. There is a difference between letting people put you in a position to help them navigate as opposed to letting people make you the dominating directional force in their lives. There is a difference between encouraging people to do the right thing, and demanding they do what they are told and then marginalizing them when they don’t do it or get delivered your way, when you say, or how you say. If you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.
i would want for you to love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. i want for you to have good, solid boundaries. Yes, Love is the standard, but good boundaries help maintain the standard. Run away for all you’re worth from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply, and, here’s a good one:
Try to practice playing second fiddle. Oh boy, that’s a good one.
i want for you to keep going and not burn out; take your time and learn to rest, keeping yourself fueled and blazing. Be alert as a servant of the Lord, cheerfully expectant: Respond. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the more. It is no skin off our nose to help needy people and be inventive in hospitality.
God always cares about the details of our lives. Read your Bible, the Lord has a great deal He’d like to talk to us about.
i’m Social Porter for Living In His Name Ministries.