So remember those questions..that were swirling around in my head from Part 1 of “why playing a basketball game is like the body of Christ?” Well the more I thought and prayed about those questions..the more I could see how in the body of Christ that sometimes we tend to do the same thing as that little basketball game.
Do you know your gifts and talents? Do you use them well? Are you always “in the game” for Christ? Good..but are you dominating the team?
I have been in Women’s Ministry for over 20 years..doing various things. I used to do WAY more than I should…because what if I didn’t..I was afraid it wouldn’t get done. Because of course God didn’t know what He was doing or anything..oh brother..LOL I was like my daughter…running all the plays and playing all the positions…oh yes I would pass the ball to another woman..but it always seemed to end up back in my hands.
Women willingly seemed pass the “ball” back into my hands…Did I grab the ball away? Was I too available to play every position?
When you know your gifts and use them..sometimes we tend to just take over..when someone else with gifts and talents in another area should be stepping in.
Now I’m not saying that we knowingly or consciously do this…it’s just that when something comes so naturally..we can get out of balance and just take over a project when it involves our gifting’s.
“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its part are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ”
I Corinthians 12:12
“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”
I Corinthians 12:4-6
So what happens when we take over….we get burned out of course..sooner or later…we just plain run out of steam. Sometimes it takes weeks and sometimes years. The thing is that if we get too burned out..the whole team (body of Christ) loses. If you are a natural leader ..the team is counting on you and me, but we simply cannot play every position and truly use our gifts and talents to the best of our abilities when we are spread so thin…
not only that…
We can become bitter and resentful..wondering “why” nobody else is stepping up to the plate. This is where true humility comes in..I think as women of God we need to humble ourselves and admit..we can’t do everything! That we need help…as women we do so much..but God did not create us to do “everything”
We should not create a dependency on us..we should rather be pointing others to God..who CAN do EVERYTHING, and building them up to use THEIR gifts and talents for His Glory.
You know many of these things I learned long ago..from the school of hard knocks of course..BUT..what I realized was that I had spent a whole season watching my daughter do the very thing that I know is not for the best of the team as a whole…and I didn’t even realize it.
You see being a leader can do one of two things..build your ego..or make you humble.
I admit..I loved watching my daughter be built up in this way..her ego/self-esteem…everyone counting on her..but in the end..it broke my heart to see the frustration and exhaustion that it caused. My heart knew…humble is better..
I knew that she felt like she let everyone down…because she was just not physically capable of doing her best anymore..she had taken on too much…and the whole team had learned to depend on her to do everything…
I had done her a great disservice by not teaching her that she only needed to do her part and no more. To teach her how to encourage others in a way that would build them up to use there gifts and talents on the team.
We’ve talked about this since the end of that last game..she agreed..Playing a Basketball game is a lot like the Body of Christ…sorta.
So tell me..are you one that stands back and watch’s while others take over? Or are you one that jumps in and takes over?
Soooo….
Even though I blog about me! LOL
