| | | | A Heart for People - 2 Corinthians 12:14-15 I think the saddest passage in the bible is found in 2 Corinthians 12:
Now I am coming to you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you. I don't want what you have—I want you. After all, children don't provide for their parents. Rather, parents provide for their children. I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me. 2 Corinthians 12:14-15
Paul had spent eighteen months with the church at Corinth, teaching and ministering, laboring to strengthen the people in their faith and walk with the Lord. Yet after he left, all %$^# broke loose! There were divisions, people were suing one another, living in open sin without correction, and when Paul got the news I'm sure it broke his heart. Yet as hard as Paul worked to minister to the people in that church, the less they appreciated Paul. The more he loved them, the less he was loved.
Why would Paul stay in relationship with a church like this? Why didn't he just write them off, and spend his time with churches that appreciated him? I'll tell you why: Paul had a heart for people, and not just people that were nice to him; ALL PEOPLE. Paul was able to look past the behavior of people, and see the need for love and growth in the Lord.
You've heard me say before, "Hurting people hurt people, and broken people break things." Just like any other institution, the church is made up of people that are at different places in their spiritual growth. Some are mature and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, and some are still immature and operate in the flesh. But if no one is willing to come alongside the immature Christian, and help them grow, they may never grow up.
That's were you and I come in: We can take the example of Paul, and not look at others in the church from a perspective of what they can do for us ("I don't want what you have"), but rather what we could do for them ("I want you").
Paul was willing to be sacrificially poured out in order for others to grow in their faith, and I believe that we should be willing to do the same. Even if the person we're pouring into doesn't seem to appreciate it. Because that's what God's love does.
"Lord, help me to be willing to invest in others, and to have a heart for people, even when they don't appreciate it."
Pastor Clay | | | | | | | |
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