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Greatest
Passion. The great passion of any pastor's heart should be the
care of the people whom God has given him to shepherd - to care for.
But the greatest passion should be to more and more love and know
Jesus intimately. The ministry of any pastor or church leader should
come out of the overflow of his relationship with Jesus. That was
the message Jesus gave to Peter before He returned to heaven. Jesus
repeatedly asked Peter, "Do you love Me?" Each time Peter
said yes and Jesus asked him to care for His flock - the church.
Each time Jesus made it clear that a relationship with Him comes
first, then comes the ministry for His flock. Jesus was not talking
about a passive relationship. Each time He asked, "Do you love
Me?"
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So
when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon,
son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said
to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He
said to him, "Tend My lambs."
He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John,
do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You
know that I love You." He said to him, "Shepherd
My sheep."
He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do
you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him
the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to
Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I
love You." Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep." (NASB)
John 21:15-17 |
Many
pastors have a great desire and passion to care for people. This
pleases God. We can see this in the command from the Apostle Peter
to church leaders:
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.
. . shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight
not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will
of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness . . .
(NASB) 1 Peter 5:2 |
God
wants His church leaders to willingly, voluntarily, compassionately
care for His people in the local church according to His will. Some
pastors have grown weary in the ministry, and their zeal and passion
are gone. This can happen when their relationship with God is wrong.
When their relationship with God becomes a duty, it means that their
desire for a close, personal, intimate relationship with God has
significantly disappeared. This is true of any Christian. As a result,
they are not really seeking to love and know Him. A man may preach
and teach the need for an intimate relationship with God even while
it is missing in his own life. The passion for ministry and for others
will occur when a man or woman is constantly seeking to love and
know God. How can a person love God and not love others? God's
great passion is that we will seek Him always. Here is the
passion for ministry.
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