I heard a story of a young girl who went up to her mother and asked, "Where did I come from?" The Mother feared this question for some time now, but had been preparing for it. She got out all the books she had been collecting for this "talk" and for the next hour she poured her heart out to her daughter of God's plan for marriage and children. When she finished, she looked at her daughter and said, "Now, does that answer your question?" The young daughter shrugged her shoulders and said, "Not exactly. Billy's mother said he came from Boston and I just wanted to know where I came from?
Sometimes a question has several answers! Last week in the YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the blog readers the following question..."Which Nationalities are included in your ancestry?" The following were the top 3 answers:
1. 68% of the readers polled said they were ENGLISH, IRISH OR SCOTTISH
2. 43% voted that they were EUROPEAN-FRENCH, GERMAN OR SWISS
3. 37% polled said they were NATIVE AMERICAN
For many of us, we can not narrow down who we are to one nationality. If you have done any kind of family tree investigation, you might have a good idea, but, do you really know who are you?
Jesus knew the ULTIMATE answers to some important questions about who He was.
JOHN 13:2-5
"Now by the time of supper, the Devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon Iscariot's son, to betray Him. (3) Jesus knew the Father had given everything into His hands, that He had come from God, and that He was going back to God. (4) So He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a towel and tied it around Himself. (5) Next, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples feet and dry them with the towel tied around Him.
This scripture tells us...
- Jesus knew where He had come from (FROM GOD)
- Jesus knew where He was going (BACK TO GOD)
- Jesus knew what God had given Him (THE FATHER HAD GIVEN EVERYTHING INTO HIS HANDS)
Because Jesus knew the answers to these 3 important questions about Himself, He had a self-assurance that many of us do not have as His followers. Many times when we, as Christians, do not have this self-assurance, we feel we have to expend a lot of energy proving ourselves and our worth. Jesus did not need to do that; and because He didn't need to that, He was free to serve!
Considering this task of Jesus washing His disciples feet, I am reminded that normally it was the task of the servant of the household to lay aside his robe or outer garment, and take a towel and wash the dirty, smelly feet of visitors who had come in from their long travels. This was not a pleasant task, and without having self assurance a person considering performing this task might think, "People will think I am just a worthless slave! They will never again be able to feel like I am equal!"
NONE OF THAT SEEMED TO CONCERN CHRIST, BECAUSE HE KNEW WHO HE WAS!
The bookstores are loaded with self help books that are suppose to help us learn to live with more self assurance. But for Christians, a simplier and more reliable approach is to look at the example of Jesus Christ. Christ's servant leadership started with knowing who He was and that is a great place for you and me to start...
1. KNOW WHO YOU ARE
Self-assurance comes from knowing who we are. The most important key to knowing who we are is knowing WHOSE we are! Jesus knew. He knew He had come from God and was going back to God. He didn’t say He had come from Joseph and Mary or their home in Nazareth; or that He was going to Jerusalem to die. Those were His earthly perimeters. The most important thing He knew was that He had His origin and destination in God. That is true for us as well. In Christ we can know and understand that we do indeed have a Father who loves us and believes in us.
Self-assurance comes from knowing who we are. The most important key to knowing who we are is knowing WHOSE we are! Jesus knew. He knew He had come from God and was going back to God. He didn’t say He had come from Joseph and Mary or their home in Nazareth; or that He was going to Jerusalem to die. Those were His earthly perimeters. The most important thing He knew was that He had His origin and destination in God. That is true for us as well. In Christ we can know and understand that we do indeed have a Father who loves us and believes in us.
1 JOHN 3:1-2 “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. (2) Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
2. KNOW WHAT GOD HAS PUT INTO YOUR HANDS
2. KNOW WHAT GOD HAS PUT INTO YOUR HANDS
Part of the self-assurance that God can give us is recognizing that He has called us into ministry and we have all been given gifts through the Holy Spirit.
1 CORINTHIANS 12:7
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.”
The Holy Spirit has given each of us gifts or talents to be used to minister to others. Some of us have more self-assurance than others. This does not mean that those with less self-assurance do not have a ministry or mission to accomplish.
Paul refers to this in verses 15 and 16 of 1 Corinthians:
“If the foot should say. ‘because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,’ in spite of this it still belongs to the body. And if the ear should say, ‘because I am not an eye, I don’t belong to the body.’ In spite of this it still belongs to the body.”
“If the foot should say. ‘because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,’ in spite of this it still belongs to the body. And if the ear should say, ‘because I am not an eye, I don’t belong to the body.’ In spite of this it still belongs to the body.”
Paul was equating church members to body parts; to those that questioned their importance to the body Paul said that every part and every member has a role and a gifting from the Holy Spirit. So, true self assurance is knowing God has called us to a purpose or knowing what He has put into our hands!
3. DARE TO SERVE
The example that Jesus sets is first of all; we are called to serve God and secondly; we have a call to serve our brothers and sisters. Jesus humbled Himself to wash the feet of His disciples. To allow the Son of God to wash Peter’s dirty smelly feet must have brought a feeling of unworthiness to Peter. But the essence of the servant love that Jesus was showing was the WILLINGNESS to do the most humbling of tasks in order to serve and love people.
The example that Jesus sets is first of all; we are called to serve God and secondly; we have a call to serve our brothers and sisters. Jesus humbled Himself to wash the feet of His disciples. To allow the Son of God to wash Peter’s dirty smelly feet must have brought a feeling of unworthiness to Peter. But the essence of the servant love that Jesus was showing was the WILLINGNESS to do the most humbling of tasks in order to serve and love people.
What task of servanthood have you been willing to do this week?
Do you have the self-assurance of whose you are?
It is my prayer that you will have a humble spirit as you strive to love and serve others this week!
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Blessings, Laurie
*Please take time to vote in this weeks poll "as a young child, when your parent(s) had dinner guests, where did you have to sit?" Cast your vote on the sidebar of this blog. THANK YOU.
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