2 Corinthian 9:2
“For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of
you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your
zeal hath provoked very many.”
The Corinthian church is sadly known as one of the most worldly
churches in the Scriptures. What is interesting is that when this church
laid aside its worldliness, it picked up an attitude of ministering.
Paul said that this church became known as a church that ministered to
the saints. In fact, the verse above says they became forward about it.
In other words, they were eager and zealous to help others. This
attitude spread to the point that others churches were provoked to do
the same thing.
Someone once asked me what size churches help me the most. My
answer surprised them because I told them that smaller churches did more
to meet my needs as an evangelist than larger ones. When I look back at
the churches that were forward about helping me and meeting my needs,
it has always been the smaller churches. I don't know why, but I can
tell you their attitude toward ministering to my needs greatly helped
the meeting because I felt that they wanted me there.
Many churches could create a good spirit if their members acquired a
zealous attitude to minister to the needs of others. If church members
were zealous to meet each others needs then all the fighting for
position would stop. A church ought to be so desirous to meet the needs
of others that it would provoke other churches to want to do the same.
Lets transfer that thought to the marriage relationship. Imagine if
each spouse became zealous toward meeting the needs of the other. One
of the bigger problems that causes marital disputes is that one spouse,
or both, don't feel that their spouse is meeting their needs. What if
each spouse set their desires aside and became zealous to meet the
other’s needs? This would solve many marital problems. If each spouse
were forward about meeting the other’s needs, it would also provoke the
children to take on the same mindset.
Moreover, this mindset would bring peace to every home. Could you
imagine how much stress you could remove from your life if your children
stopped squabbling over their wants? Many mothers are frazzled because
they daily deal with children fighting over their wants. This attitude
in the home would remove that unnecessary stress.
There are two things you must understand about this attitude.
First, this attitude must become a mindset. If this is going to become
your mindset then you must take on a servant’s attitude. You must lay
aside the attitude that says, “What about me?” and take on the attitude,
“May I help you please?” It all has to be about serving. You need to
constantly look at how you can help the needs of others. When you hear
them give the simplest requests, do your best to meet them. Make the
needs of others the master command in your life.
Second, the benefit of acquiring this attitude is that it is
contagious. You will find that when you start serving others, it will
provoke others to do the same. Always remember that the way to motivate
others to serve is to become a servant yourself. It is contagious, and
it will strengthen every relationship and bring peace to every place.