Faith, Forgiveness, Family, & Fellowship

Ministry of any kind comes with its challenges and joys, but through this I have found the biblical values I have clung to are faith, forgiveness, family, and fellowship. Without these cores values as my foundation for ministry, I am sure I would often feel restless and unproductive. Of course, there are so many other values that I cherish and hold dear to my heart, those of which Jesus holds and speaks about in Scripture, but for the sake of this blog I share my four “F’s.”

The first being faith. I am motivated to do ministry because of the faith and hope I have in Jesus. Upon hearing the gospel when I was 21, I was called to a great act of faith that required me to abandon my own ways and trust Jesus with His. In faith I have trusted Jesus in the ministry opportunities He has laid in front of me because His plan is far greater than my own. In those ministry opportunities, my desire has been for students and family to put step out in an act of faith to trust Jesus. Either by committing their lives to Jesus for the first time or trusting Jesus that He is going to provide friends at school or heal a mother who has been ill for years. It has always been a joy and privilege to see teens’ lives changed because of the gospel and the hope that Jesus provides and the faith they have in Him.

The second value is forgiveness. People are broken and sinful human beings. They make mistakes and it can hurt. Of course I am included in this grouping of being a broken and sinful person, but sometimes when you think the people who are supposed to care for you the best, end up hurting you. While this is not just confined to ministry, it can happen here too. In light of this though, by the gospel and grace of God I am forgiven and convicted to forgive others as Christ has forgiven me. As it says in Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive you.” Forgiving others has brought reconciliation and restoration to relationships. In regards to ministry, as a leader I believe I am called to set an example to those around me of what Jesus is like and through forgiveness I think I am able to display God’s character.

My third value is family. I have always felt comforted by the truth of my adoption into God’s family and I want others to experience that as well. While I grew up in two non-Christian households, I have not had the greatest examples of what it looks like to be in a family that worships God together, prays together, and loves each other with a love that is overflowing from God. When I gave my life to Jesus and was baptized, I knew I was immediately accepted and welcomed into a family I had never experienced. People came around me to get to know me, care for me, pray with me, feed me, and house me. These physical and very tangible expressions of the way that God has adopted me into His family have moved me to help others experience this as well. I hope to share the gospel with people in order that they would know the grace in forgiveness of sins and the abundant love of God, and what it is like to be in a family that brings glory to God.

My fourth value is fellowship. While fellowship is closely related with family, I would like to emphasize the discipleship that comes with fellowship. Being a part of the family of God requires intimate relationships and a mutual agreement in accountability to keep our eyes on Jesus at all times, to learn from Him, and to learn to be like Him. In ministry, I strive to make relationships with the people around me to encourage them in their relationship with the Lord and to challenge to seek after Jesus just a little bit more. We hear a lot about “what gives you life?” and being in these relationships with people younger than me gives me life. I enjoy sitting with people to hear about what God doing in their lives and the ways that they struggle in their depravity and yet still seek God. It may be a little selfish, but I love witnessing what God is doing in people’s lives and how He is using them for His kingdom. The fellowship I have with Jesus is the only way that I am able to have these relationships and I am so thankful that God trusts me to partner with others to seek after Him.

Like I said before, these are only my core values of which I use as my foundation and motivation to do ministry. Along with Jesus, they give me clarity in why I do ministry and my desire to share God’s character with believers and non-believers.