March 22
“’But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.’” (Revelation 2:4)
Yesterday we started a list of questions to get us thinking about whether or not we in our ministry efforts may have left our first love.
- Would I be able to give up and walk away from this ministry if I believed the Lord wanted me to do so? If that would be difficult, what does that say about my motives for doing this ministry?
- Is there disunity and conflict in the ministry circles I am part of? To what extent am I involved in the conflicts, and to what extent am I trying to make peace?
- Am I feeling alone and discouraged in the ministry I am doing or regarding life in general?
- Do I just want out of my situation?
- Do I regularly pray for God’s strength and grace to fulfill my ministry and use me to His glory?
- Do I regularly ask the Lord to fill me with love for Him?
- Am I able to discern and judge levels of importance of doctrinal issues, or do I have many doctrinal positions about which I am willing to stand up and confront others? Do I place a high degree of importance on preserving the unity of the body, or am I quick to divide and argue for my positions? Is love for the Lord, grace for my “opponents,” and concern for the unity of the body evident in all my interactions and especially when I feel I need to “contend for the faith”?
- Have I every thought through how I would behave differently and what I would do differently if Jesus were here with me all the time, face to face?
- What complaints do I have about my circumstances? Do I grumble about my circumstances or the people God has put in my life?
- How much time do I spend giving thanks to God for all His blessings toward me? Would others who know me well say that I am a thankful, grateful, full of faith type of positive person?
- How do my complaints occupy my thinking in comparison to the things for which I give thanks, or are they disproportionate to and crowd out my thankfulness?
- Do others see a zeal for Christ in me? Do they hear me talking about the Lord and encouraging them in the Lord? How much would others say I love the Lord? How much and in what ways is my love for Christ evident to others?
- What commandments of scripture am I not doing a good job at keeping or doing? Am I mindful of Jesus’ statements that if I love Him I will keep His commandments?
- How would my love for the Lord measure up if it were judged by how well I keep ALL of His commandments, and not just the ones I deem most important?
- Do I have secret sins that I harbor in my mind and heart that I nurture and make provision for and have not allowed the Lord to fully deal with?
- Do I ever wonder with uncertainty, “Why am I doing what I am doing?” or “Is this worth it?”
There are many other questions we could ask to test ourselves as to how much we love the Lord. You know your situation far better than I do; what questions would you ask yourself to evaluate your love for the Lord? What questions would the Lord ask you?