How To Let Your Faith Be Bigger Than Your Fear So You Can Serve Others Well
We’ve almost made it.
Just two more posts to go until we conclude our Ten Barriers That Block Christians From Serving segment in our It’s Your Serve series.
Do you feel like you’ve grown?
Have you learned a lot?
Good! Me, too.
Always learning, always growing as we like to say in our house. (Thanks, Dr. Bevie, for that signature phrase. You sowed seeds in me.)
Today, in Part 9, let’s take a look at some of the fears we face when encountering challenges in helping others.
When Fear Creeps In
In reality, we could list multiple fears centered around volunteering and serving others.
From enabling addictions to perpetuating the cycle of poverty to being asked to do something outside of our comfort zone or unintentionally making the situation worse in some way, the list is endless.
I have heard them all and some I have thought myself.
Yet, I assure you, if we were to take this very long list and examine it thoroughly, 99.9% of these fears would all share a solitary common theme.
The fear of making a mistake or of doing the wrong thing.
Faith Over Fear
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind
1 Timothy 2:7, KJV
Sometimes having a generous spirit is not the issue. Sometimes it is fear that stands in our way.
Fear of perpetuating bad habits, enabling addictions, or being taken advantage of.
Fear of opening our hearts up to hurt.
Fear of failure.
Scripture is filled with reminders of God’s promises to carry us through during times of difficulty. While setbacks are inherent to life, through God’s strength we are able to get back up no matter how many times we stumble.
For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes
Proverbs 24:16
I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13
God knows our hearts.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
We can trust him to guide our steps in times of uncertainty.
The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
Psalm 37:23-24
Serving Others Well
In order to combat this fear, we should consider ways in which we can serve others well.
In an article for Experience Mission.org, Abbie Thiebaut speaks to these all-too-common concerns. Rather than allowing fear to bully us into inaction, Abbie reminds us that as Believers, we are meant to operate from a place of faith, not fear.
In her article, “5 Steps to Serving Other Well,” Abbie teaches us how to humble ourselves in service just as Christ did. She encourages us to care with open hands and hearts. She also reminds us to acknowledge our limitations “by recognizing you might not be the whole solution” and to allow others to serve us from time to time.
“To serve others well, we need to have faith that we are ultimately serving someone greater.”
Abbie Thiebaut, Five Steps to Serving Others Well
Coming Up
Join us for our next blog post. In this final segment of the Ten Barriers That Block Christians from Serving series, we discuss the cost of helping others.
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Blessings,
Kimberly
IOH Mom
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