In Romans 14:12 I read, “Each of us will give a personal account to God." (NLT)
At the end of my life on Earth, I will stand before God and he’ll evaluate how well I served others with my life. The Bible says, “Each of us will give a personal account to God” (Romans 14:12 NLT).
Think about the implications of that. One day God will compare how much time and energy I spent on myself compared with what I invested in serving others.
At that point, all my excuses for self-centeredness will sound hollow: “I was too busy” or “I had my own goals” or “I was preoccupied with working, having fun, and preparing for retirement.”
To all excuses, God will respond with something like this: “Sorry, wrong answer. I created, saved, and called you. Then I commanded you to live a life of service. What part did you not understand?”
The Bible warns unbelievers, “He will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves” (Romans 2:8 NLT). And Believers who live for themselves will lose eternal rewards.
The Bible says that I’m only fully alive when I’m helping others. Jesus said it like this: “If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live” (Mark 8:35 TLB).
Then he repeats a similar truth twice in the book of Matthew and twice in Luke:
“If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will save it” (Matthew 10:39 TLB).
“For anyone who keeps his life for himself shall lose it; and anyone who loses his life for me shall find it again” (Matthew 16:25 TLB).
“Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it, but whoever insists on keeping his life will lose it” (Luke 9:24 TLB).
“Whoever clings to his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall save it” (Luke 17:33 TLB).
Did you catch that? This truth is so important that it is repeated five times in the Gospels. If I am not serving, I’m just existing—because life is meant for ministry.
What does God expect from me? He wants me to learn to love and serve others unselfishly.
In summary, at the end of my life, I will stand before God and he’ll evaluate how well I served others with my life. Consider the implications. One day God will compare how much time and energy I spent on myself compared with what I invested in serving others. All my excuses for self-centeredness will sound hollow. To all excuses, God will respond with something like this: “Sorry, wrong answer. I created, saved, and called you. Then I commanded you to live a life of service. What part did you not understand?” The Bible warns unbelievers, “He will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves”. And Believers who live for themselves will lose eternal rewards. The Bible says that I’m only fully alive when I’m helping others. Jesus said “If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live”. Then he repeats a similar truth twice in the book of Matthew and twice in Luke. This truth is so important that it is repeated five times in the Gospels. If I am not serving, I’m just existing, life is meant for ministry. God wants me to learn to love and serve others unselfishly.
Each of us will be accountable to Christ, not to others. When I stand before God and give a personal account of my life, I won't worry about what others have done. It doesn't matter how much or how little I have. What matters is what I do with what I've been given and if God can trust me with more. God has entrusted me with certain assets to manage while I'm here. He's watching, testing and wants to see how I handle them. I can decide what I want my life to be about. When I use the resources he's given me to make an eternal difference, I will hear God say to me, Well Done.
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