Persevering - Year on Year

It was great to be back at our toddler group, Footprints, this morning. Sad to see the place a little quieter because some of the toddlers have now moved up to school, but also nice to see a couple of new mums and babies there.

For me there is something very reassuring about coming back together in September and seeing the same friendly faces again. Sometimes the realisation that the ministry God has for you is long term can be a frustrating thing, things never seem to happen fast enough. But when it comes to building genuine relationships with people in the community, you can’t beat long-term investment, and that’s why I’m so happy to come back and see everyone again.

I don’t want to fly into people’s lives, get to know them just long enough to win their trust a bit, hit them with the gospel, hope they make a speedy conversion and then move onto the next victim. And I don’t think that’s what God wants from us either. As Christians we have a duty to love and support people in the community regardless of their religious beliefs. After all, Jesus died for us “while we were sinners”, and doesn’t ever force us to accept His sacrifice, so how can we put strings and ulterior motives onto the love we offer, if Christ doesn’t?

Christ loves unconditionally and so must we. That is why I find it reassuring to come back to ministries and continue to see friends from the community again after the summer, because these people aren’t projects, they are genuine friends, and as Christians we’re here to ‘do life’ with them, year after year.

Part of genuine friendship is that people get to see the way your faith works out in your life and sometimes you will have the privilege of sharing your faith with those people, particularly when you ask God for the opportunity too. But regardless of these elements, the bible tells us we must love.

“Steadfast love” is a phrase used over and over again in the bible (try typing it into the keyword search on www.biblegateway.com - ESV version) to describe God’s love for us and the way in which we should love God and others. So don’t be impatient if you are settled and in a ministry for the long-haul, “steadfast love” is a powerful and Godly thing to persevere in, year after year.

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