That sounds pretty strange when we are so accustomed to thinking that way, even praying that way. “God, use me…” Sounds pretty spiritual! And our intentions are right – we want to be pleasing to Him, to be pure and holy, and we want His Kingdom to be established on Earth by means of our lives and service. But I just did a search in the Bible for the words use, used, useful in English and Spanish (thanks to technology!), and surprisingly didn’t find anywhere that God wants to use us.
We are to pattern our lives after Him; we are to love as He loves. We love because He first loved us. God is love! Jesus is our example of God’s love. We are to walk in the very same principles that He showed us. Did Jesus use his disciples, or serve them? He even went so far as to wash their feet! He showed us by word and example that the greatest among us is the one who serves.
Should we use people? We know that this is wrong. Anyone who says, “I feel used,” is not expressing a positive experience. I like the phrase, “Use things, love people. Not the other way around.” So then, how would it be that God could give us an example of using people, but forbid us to follow that example? Let’s step out of our religious thinking for a minute! “Oh, but He’s God, He can do what He wants.” Yes, He is God, but He has limited Himself in order to be a loving Father to us, and an example that we can follow, in attitude, word, deed, and character. I did not find anywhere in His Word an example of Him using people!
I know what some may be thinking right now, “So what does God want to do with us, then?” Rather than “using” us, He wants to live through us. He wants to pour out His life and love to the world through us. For Him, we are not just tools to be used as a means to an end. We are that “end”; He created us to be the objects or the recipients of His love.
God has repeatedly used the comparison of Him being our Father to the way that we relate to our own children. Would it be right for us to “use” our children for our own purposes? (Although many people do just that!) But we do pour our life and love into our children expecting that our influence on them will in turn have an influence on others. In that sense, we love the world through them, and our lives live on through them even after we are gone. It is the same with the influence that we have with those that we lead. It has been said that leadership is influence, but “leaders” who use their followers have their own selfish gain in mind, and not the benefit to their followers. Leaders who pour themselves into their followers will see the multiplication of their influence.
It may seem like a slight difference, but for me this has been a paradigm shift that has helped me to see my relationship with God more clearly. It also leads me to believe that the former mindset could be a major cause for “burnout” in Christian service. Yes, we are to serve God untiringly! That is the example that He has given us in Jesus! But we are like the hose that gets wet as the water travels through it. As the Bible says in Proverbs 11:25, “He who waters will himself be watered.” As God’s life and love passes through us to others, we gain strength. This mentality also helps us to discern God’s voice as He speaks to our spirit. We can recognize His will and purpose as He first works in us, and then through us.
Today, let’s ask the question, “God, today – how do You want to love the world through me?”
I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, the One loving me and giving Himself over on my behalf. (Galatians 2:20 LITV)
And all things are from God, the One having reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and having given to us the ministry of reconciliation, as, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not charging their deviations to them, and having put the Word of reconciliation in us. (2 Corinthians 5:19-20 LITV)
1 comments: