School Year Kick Off!

The year starts again! It’s so exciting to be back on campus and to get to meet a bunch of new people! Both exciting and exhausting! Going into the year I have been praying for a double portion for this year. Not necessarily that the Lord doubles our numbers but that we give a double portion of the Spirits blessing. It’s my continued prayer as we meet people.

I’ve been encouraged by the amount of people we’ve met who have been seeking God and Christian community. I pray too that we meet people who are newer to their faith with God. One of the girls I met at an event didn’t grow up Christian but wanted to learn more about Jesus and I’ve been encouraged talking to her more. 

I’ve noticed in my self the tendency to compare this year to last and it leading to discontentment in my own life. We have this axiom: Comparison is the thief of joy. And that has proved true over and over again. When I compare myself to others I put them in a place that they were never meant to be. Either I compare and I come out looking down on them or placing them in a lofty position and putting myself down. Paul says “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬-‭5‬

Our staff read a book that draws on this verse heavily and I’ve been repeating it to myself. Others are not what I should be worried about and compare myself to. It’s God who knows what’s going on in my heart and my goal should be faithful to him and what he’s called me to. Which is sacrificial love.

I’ll end with a quote from a book I just finished: “ Often go unrecognized because sacrifice rarely makes an immediate obvious impact with sacrificial love. There tends to be no big splash. No immediate result. No measurable return on investment humble hidden. Sacrificial love is how we too can live as Jesus as witnesses. And as we do something entirely upside down happens. We find the gratification and fulfillment. We were chasing in all the wrong places. The english witness is a common translation of the Greek word martyras which is also translated as martyr. To bee Jesus's witness was virtually synonymous, with being his martyr, losing one's life by association with him. But even apart from persecution, a sacrificial death to self, a martyrdom of sorts, has always been central to living as his witness.”