Daily Devotion with Pastor Tong Liu: Today's Passage

2 Corinthians 1:23-24

I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.

In this passage, Paul talked about an important principle in pastoral ministry. Verse 24 says that "Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy..." When we serve others, we should not see to rule over them, but only to serve them so that they would receive joy in Christ. Many times when we are serving in leadership roles at church, we like to demand others to follow our way to achieve growth. Some people wake up early to do devotions; not only do they stress the importance of morning devotion, they also call others to wake them up to do devotion. Some like to wait upon the Lord in quietness; they believe it's the only way people can be close to the Lord, so they ask others to also wait with them. There are those who like to research on things; they find joy in studying biblical knowledge and teaching others about the Bible.

Church has too many dos and don'ts, but most of them are not matters of truth, but they are only traditions. For example, some churches forbid members from using guitars, believing that it's an instrument of the devil; some churches don't even allow pianos because they believe all instruments are secular, thus they can only sing a cappella. Actually, the paths of growth are different for everyone, God guides everyone in different ways, and there's no way that everyone in a church would be the same. Therefore, we must pay attention to two things: First, we must meet the unique needs of each individual; second, we must let everyone practice and exercise their own spiritual gifts, and put them to good use. Church must be a buffet restaurant - Even though church needs to have a unified vision and goal, it must help every brother and sister to grow in Christ and meet their individual needs. We must keep an open heart to accept differences between people, and also let everyone exercise their spiritual gifts by faith. May the Lord help us, always someone who helps others.

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, we thank you because you have set an example for a good shepherd so that we may follow your footsteps. We ask that you give me a sensitive spirit and an open heart, and let the river of God flow to every area in our lives. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!