lesson learned leading women's ministry

For a large number of people the following hold true:

(1) Being cared for is more important than being challenged

(2) Being loved is more important than being admired

a subtle deceit

It was an easy thing to regard that initial commitment that I made to Jesus as a significant moment to be memorialized. Once I became His, I had only to enjoy the benefits of this amazing association. I had learned the new rules.

With this accomplished, I looked to occupy myself with other pursuits. New adventures, achievements, and relationships absorbed my attention and passions. I carefully applied the new rules to the same pursuits that I had before I began to follow Jesus. This, I supposed, was what it meant to believe.

This attitude is subtle and subversive. The truth is that the commitment that I made to Jesus was not about the moment of decision. It was to a lifestyle of seeking and yielding. I am unfaithful to that commitment when I am too concerned with my own desires and ambitions to seek God's pleasure and too tied to my own goals and pursuits to yield to His purpose.

In that moment, obedience becomes an inconvenient obligation to avoid if possible and endure when necessary.