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This is an excerpt taken from Winkie Pratney's "a handbook for FOLLOWERS OF JESUS".
Part 1 of 2
This coming 'to be ministered to' is the spirit of the world. It is at the bottom of fights in the nursery, arguments at school, quarrels between people and wars among nations.
Isn't it true that we are too often cross, angry, hassled?
Sometimes we show it by blowing our cool. Sometimes we keep our cool outwardly but the rotten feelings are still there. And why? Most probably because we have come to be ministered to and have been disappointed.
The fact is, we are always wanting to be ministered to by people, by fortune, by circumstances, even by the weather. It is so natural, so needed, so "right".
If we are frustrated (as we often are), we are apt to get uptight and sulky, and we usually wind up making ourselves and others miserable.
You are slighted, ignored, brushed aside.
Your boss doesn't show you the proper consideration. Your brother doesn't treat you with the respect due to your awareness, your wisdom, your talents - and you feel it very much.
In fact, you are really very hassled by it. It is because your feelings, your rights, your gifts, your position, your dignity, your importance were not recognized.
You were not ministered to!
Perhaps, you are jealous; another is praised and put before you.
He does better than you.
She is luckier than you.
The honour, the success, the popularity, the reward went to the others.
They got what you thought you ought to have.
You wanted it for yourself.
You came to be ministered to. And because they have been ministered to in your place, you are jealous.
Think about it:
Have you been hassled lately because someone slighted you or put someone else before you? Can you see now that your feelings were hurt because you were expecting to be ministered to?
Have you ever been treated like dirt?
There is no excuse for people who have rotten attitudes and who deliberately put you down. But you are a follower of Jesus.
I ask you, if you had come, like your Master, "not to be ministered to, but to minister", would you be feeling so sore and angry?
Think about that for a minute.
How would your attitude be different if your main purpose were to minister rather than be ministered to?
Well, the list is endless -- I think I will stop here for us to pause and to meditate on some of these thought-provoking statements.
Part 2 of 2 from this thought will continue in my next post .. so, please keep a watch for it in a few week's time :-)
