Rick Warren's Blog, page 542

A Christian���s Job Description: Go and Tell

Jesus told a story to explain the party that God has invited you to: ���A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When all was ready, he sent his servant around to notify the guests that it was time for them to arrive. But they all began making excuses. One said he had just bought a field and wanted to inspect it and asked to be excused. Another said he had just bought five pair of oxen and wanted to try them out. Another had just been married, and for that reason couldn���t come.

Share Your Experiences

The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:11a, ���Encourage one another and help one another��� (GNT). God wants you to build up, motivate, and inspire other people. How do you do that? You can do it three ways: You can give people hope, you can help people overcome their fears, and you can help people break down barriers.

Two Ways to Examine Your Experiences

An unexamined experience is worthless.

There are people who are 50 years old who haven���t lived 50 years. They���ve lived one year 50 times. They���re still making the same mistakes, because they never stop and extract the lessons. They never stop to ask, ���What happened in this last year, and what can I do differently so that I am living life better?���

Embrace Your Past Experiences ��� Good and Bad

You must embrace the experiences of your life ��� the good ones, the bad ones, the shameful ones, the right ones, the wrong ones, the happy ones, and the sad ones ��� and stop running from your past if you want God to use it for good in your life.

If You Believe It, Then Do It

Yesterday, we looked at Mark 12:30: ���You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength��� (NLT). And one way to look at this verse is to focus on loving God with all your talk, all your feelings, all your thinking, and all your acting. God shaped you to be primarily a talker, a feeler, a thinker, or a doer.

Stop Talking About It and Start Doing It

What you say has a direct connection to your heart.

Whatever your heart is filled with is going to come out of your mouth. If you���re filled with anger, anger is going to come out of your mouth. If your heart is filled with depression, it���s going to come out of your mouth. If your heart is filled with joy, that���s going to come out of your mouth.

Do Less So You Can Do More

The Bible says in Mark 12:30, ���You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength��� (NLT). Another way to say this is, love God with all your talk, all your feelings, all your thinking, and all of your acting. God shaped you to primarily be a talker, feeler, thinker, or doer.

Why We Need Each Other

Your abilities are for the benefit of other people. The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:10, ���Each of you as a good manager must use the gift that God has given you to serve others��� (GW).

What to Do with Unused Ability

All of us have unused abilities. But there are three ways that you can start cultivating your abilities so that they are being used for good and for God���s glory.

Serve Out of Design, Not Duty

The Bible says that God wants you to listen to your heart. He wants you to look at what you���re made to do, and then you���ll know what he wants you to do. But most people these days are moving so fast that they don���t have time to listen to their heart anymore.