.
Love and Priorities.
by
Stephen Giles
.
 This
past year in Detroit has certainly brought about
a good bit of spiritual growth in my life, and I
think that there has been a definite theme from
the Lord this summer that has served to order
this growth correctly. During this year I have
grown in my prayer life, and in my knowledge of
God, I have developed some skills, and have
gained wisdom through experiences, but so far
this summer I have felt the Lord urge me to
prioritize relating with people.
1 Corinthians 13 says that if I have all of the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, and tremendous wisdom
and great faith, but do not have love then I
have nothing. No matter how much I may have
grown this past year it is worthless if it does
not produce love. I am so often concerned with
programs running smoothly and with plans staying
orderly that I forget that the priority is
people, and in the case of Detroit Summer
Outreach (DSO), the priority is the youth. If
the programs run with complete order, but the
objective, which in this case is that the youth
come to know Jesus, is not accomplished then it
was a complete waste.
In the past, and especially during my freshman
year of college, I failed to make relating well
with people as priority as I should have done. I
would put my headphones in on the bus so that
people wouldn’t talk to me, I would make little
or no effort to make friends with the people in
my classes, and I certainly acted cowardly when
any opportunity for evangelism arose. I was more
concerned with being comfortable than I was with
sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with
others.
Thankfully, throughout this year and especially
this summer the Lord has shown me how vital it
is to make people a priority and to invest in
relationships. He has shown me that I need to
invest in and love these young people, for that
is precisely the reason why I am here. 1 John 4
states simply that we are to love, because God
loves us and because God is love. When things
seem to get complicated or chaotic it is so
helpful for me to be reminded that I am here in
Detroit simply to love God and love His people.
As convicted as I may get that loving people is of
paramount importance I know that I am actually
incapable of carrying this out on my own. No
matter how much I understand the importance of
loving and prioritizing people, if I rely on my
own strength and my own love to carry it out, I
will fail. I need to rely on the Lord in order to
love people as He calls me to, and that is a great
relief. My own love is pretty feeble and pathetic,
but I can let God love others through me and being
apart of that is incredible. God has blessed me
with some great relationships with the youth this
summer, and I am very thankful for the opportunity
to be used by Him in this way.
Source:
YouthWorksDetroit.tumbler.com.
Used with permission.
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learn more about YouthWorks-Detroit
visit their web
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