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Serving God Together - CONTEST
"... Faith without works is dead...." James 2:26
I believe this verse means this- You can profess Christianity, you can pray until you're blue in the face, but if you don't exercise your faith, it's of no good to you.
My husband and I serve in our little church as leaders. We work alongside another married couple, with the inner-city kids in our area. My husband works with the teens, while I cater to the little curtain climbers. Sometimes I feel like pulling my hair out or just throwing up my hands, but when I feel the exuberant squeeze of a young child desperate for love and attention, or I smile as "my" children repeat back to me the children's story I had told them from the previous week, it makes it worth it.
My husband and I also help out with the Junior Church, once a month. These times are especially trying, especially when his class gets thrown in the mix. Anything from fights breaking out to yelling across the room to refusing to sing or listen to the skit unfolding before them, we have dealt with it all.
My husband has told me that what makes it all worth it, for him, is being able to pray the Salvation prayer with the teens and knowing they're sincere.
When you visit the homes of these children and teenagers, you can begin to understand why they act out under authority.
Homes littered with trash, feces, stale food and beer bottles. Parents relying on beating their kids to get them to behave, leaving them alone all hours, showing little to no love.
You can see, in their sad dark eyes how much they crave a hug, a gentle touch, a kind word.
As my husband and I strive to work together, to bring these young impressionable souls into God's kingdom, we try not to notice the harsh hateful words that come from their lips, their defiant, stubborn attitudes, their lack of respect for authority and God's teachings, and focus on what Jesus would do, in that situation. That kinda changes the whole prospective. If God's Son can suffer and die on a cruel cross, then surely my husband and I can handle what strong disrespect these kidlets dish out and lift our eyes to Heaven for more strength and look ahead to the future to what these kids could be as adults- missionaries, preachers, teachers, fathers and mothers with good, Christian morals. But most of all, for them to grow up to be what God wants them to be from the guidance and teachings of two humble Sunday School teachers, way back as young children who climbed the walls, who spoke with a dirty speech, who never heard of significant Bible stories, who craved a loving look.
It will be worth it....
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