“Not only [did they give materially] as we had hoped, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us…” – 2 Cor.8:5 (AMP, emphasis added)

I was told the story of a guy who met a lady and was interested in her. This lady felt that the guy was too spiritual, because he talks a lot about the things of God, the gathering of believers, his services to God and his commitment to his local church. This brother had to let her go because they weren’t compatible.

I’m sure there are some of you who have had similar situations, where you had to make some painful decisions on whether to overlook and go on or just let go and expect something better. Brothers and sisters, people end relationships for all kinds of reason, but how many of us can end a relationship because that relationship isn’t helping or encouraging us to grow spiritually? Or the thought of this has not crossed your mind yet? Is it that relationships are not for such purpose?

When you know that you are first His, then you will understand that a relationship that doesn’t encourage your walk and work with God should not be given a second thought. Many have strayed out of God’s plan and purpose because they held too firmly to a relationship that they weren’t supposed to be in.

I don’t joke with my service to God. The gospel is my number one priority and I don’t place anyone or anything above that, rather, my relationship with God reflects on every aspect of my living. It is because I have first learned to give myself to God, that’s why I can easily commit myself to the people He brings to my path. My relationship with God is what changed my perception of life and people. I see things differently. I won’t trade my relationship with God for anyone or anything, because He is the reason I live.

An understanding like this affects the way we think and act. For some of us, it may not be in the area of our relationships because we might have successfully navigated that, it could be regarding our jobs/career, pleasures and the likes; we hold on to these things too firmly that they’ve robbed us of our devotion to and fellowship with God, and where there is no fellowship there is no direction.

Let me share my experience with a young man I met a few years ago with you: This man was a senior colleague in the field of economic research. I was excited to work with him because that field was an interest of mine. This young man proposed that there would be times I will have to be on the field on Sundays. That took me off; I couldn’t take it any further.

Sundays may not mean anything to him but to me, it’s not just a day, it’s a commitment I have made to God to always be available to serve! In as much as I love to do research, I’m first His and this implies that if I have to give it up for the sake of the gospel then I would gladly do that. I have rejected some offers in the past because they would interfere with my devotion to God and my commitment to the local church.

Why pursue things at the expense of God and you claim that it is God who wants you to do them? We spend hours praying to see miracles happen through us, to get a good job, to be prosperous, for the deal to click; we are carried away by the things He does, when He wants us to be carried away by Him. He wants us to spend time with Him just to enjoy Him. When this mind is in you: knowing that you are first His, you will come to understand that when you make decisions, your first consideration should be the work of the Lord at hand.

Christianity was birthed through sacrifice and if you are not willing to make sacrifices for the sake of the gospel then you are not ready to serve. What we are benefiting today in Christendom came as a result of the sacrifices men and women in ages past made, they stripped themselves of so many things so that you and I can have what we have today. So, what sacrifice are you willing to make for the sake of the gospel? What will you be ready to give up so that the work of the gospel can be propagated through you? This is why you live – for Him and not for anyone or anything. 

I’m first His…