Your Secret Weapon!

by Ameerah Lewis
(Ohio, USA)

The last time we spoke, we talked about the importance of having a servant's heart. We asked ourselves if we truly had a servant's heart towards our families, and I promised that our next article would be about how to begin that journey to becoming a joyful servant regardless of our other commitments.

Well, I am a woman who likes to keep her promises!

So, what is the secret to being able to serve your family unconditionally, regardless of how long of a day you have already had or how little sleep you have been able to piece together?

A Strong Relationship With God.

"Now Ameerah," I can hear some of you thinking,"how is that at all related? I'm looking for practical ways to be able to bless my family - What does MY relationship with God have to do with blessing THEM?"

It has everything to do with it.

With intimacy with God comes peace, joy, patience, love, kindness, and self-discipline - All of the things that you will need in order to serve your family the way God has called you to. What do each of those attributes have in common? They are each one of the nine Fruits of the Spirit. Where do the Fruits of the Spirit come from? From spending time with the Holy Spirit of God. They are each the visible fruits that manifest in our lives when we spend time with God's Spirit and allow Him to sow Himself into us.

You see, where most of us go wrong is that we expect to be able to have these things - joy, peace, patience, love, kindness, self-discipline, etc - without going to the source to get them. We think that we should be able to dig them up on our own. Then, when we fail, we are filled with self-condemnation and disappointment in our inability to be the person that we know we were created to be. But, these are not traits that can come from man. They are evidence of our connectedness to our Heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit.

So, over the next few months we are going to switch gears a little bit. We are going to do a study throughout the Bible of how to have intimacy with God. We will uncover how to develop a relationship with God that will empower us to do ALL of the things that He has called us to do, and still keep a smile on our face and a hop in our step?

Why? Because, without His help, we've all seen what we turn in to. I won't make anyone fess up to it, but just think back to times in your own life when you were trying to do it all on your own power. How was your attitude? Where was your servant's heart?

Even as women, we must not forget what Apostle Paul said:

For my determined purpose is that I may know Him
that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him,
perceiving and recognizing and understanding
the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly
– Philippians 3:10a (AMP)

Your primary focus must always be on your relationship with God. That is where your balance comes from. When you make your relationship with Him the center of your life, and you allow everything else that you do to be an extension of that primary relationship, that is when you truly find balance.

I look forward to seeing you in our very first women's spiritual growth Bible study, as we all learn how to draw closer to God and allow Him to be our source instead of trying to be our own!

God Bless!
Ameerah Lewis