Zechariah 1-4
Revelation 18
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
What do we have to offer to those around us? In the late 1980s, John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight developed a community growth model called “Asset-Based Community Development” where it “work(s) with the premise that every neighbourhood—even the most impoverished—is filled with human, associational and institutional assets that should be identified, connected and mobilised before seeking outside help.” These men travelled across the United States visiting over 300 low-income areas and communities in 20 cities and discovered how to grow communities from the inside out, not labeling and defining people by their deficits, their problems or their needs, but recognizing that every single person, even ones we might deem as our worst enemy, has something to give.
To consider what we personally have to offer, there is an exercise called “Head, Hand, Heart.” For head, what do we know intellectually that perhaps others around us do not know? What do we uniquely know that God has given us as a skill? After knowing with our head what we have, we nurture that skill, gift or ability with our hands by putting it into practice, into work. But it does not stop there, we then examine our heart, or passion, that we have been given, asking what do we care uniquely about that we wish perhaps everyone in this world would care about as deeply as we do that reflects the heart of God, but for whatever reason, He has given this passion, this care, this concern to us?
The root word for “passion” is passio in Latin, which means “to suffer.” Hence, when we talk about passion, it is not a hobby but a holy grace from which God has given us endurance and strength to suffer in ways that others cannot. This is why when we talk about the “Passion of Christ” it is not just the act of crucifixion but also His suffering, His love for us that kept Him there. In Ashlee Eiland’s book Say Good: Speaking Across Hot Topics, Complex Relationships, and Tense Situations, she writes, “When we’re determining our passion and where we feel called to use our voice for good, the question isn’t if we really love or feel drawn to something—a field of study, global mission, an area of the world, a group of people. The question is, instead Do we love that something enough to suffer greatly for it?”
May we take some time before the end of the year to examine our head, hand, heart and consider how we are leveraging our gifts and passion for God to serve our community in 2025 for such a time as this.
Sovereign Lord, thank You for the way that You uniquely created me with what I know, what I can do and what I have a heart for. May I not hide what You have given me but use it to further Your kingdom in the New Year.
Revelation 18
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
What do we have to offer to those around us? In the late 1980s, John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight developed a community growth model called “Asset-Based Community Development” where it “work(s) with the premise that every neighbourhood—even the most impoverished—is filled with human, associational and institutional assets that should be identified, connected and mobilised before seeking outside help.” These men travelled across the United States visiting over 300 low-income areas and communities in 20 cities and discovered how to grow communities from the inside out, not labeling and defining people by their deficits, their problems or their needs, but recognizing that every single person, even ones we might deem as our worst enemy, has something to give.
To consider what we personally have to offer, there is an exercise called “Head, Hand, Heart.” For head, what do we know intellectually that perhaps others around us do not know? What do we uniquely know that God has given us as a skill? After knowing with our head what we have, we nurture that skill, gift or ability with our hands by putting it into practice, into work. But it does not stop there, we then examine our heart, or passion, that we have been given, asking what do we care uniquely about that we wish perhaps everyone in this world would care about as deeply as we do that reflects the heart of God, but for whatever reason, He has given this passion, this care, this concern to us?
The root word for “passion” is passio in Latin, which means “to suffer.” Hence, when we talk about passion, it is not a hobby but a holy grace from which God has given us endurance and strength to suffer in ways that others cannot. This is why when we talk about the “Passion of Christ” it is not just the act of crucifixion but also His suffering, His love for us that kept Him there. In Ashlee Eiland’s book Say Good: Speaking Across Hot Topics, Complex Relationships, and Tense Situations, she writes, “When we’re determining our passion and where we feel called to use our voice for good, the question isn’t if we really love or feel drawn to something—a field of study, global mission, an area of the world, a group of people. The question is, instead Do we love that something enough to suffer greatly for it?”
May we take some time before the end of the year to examine our head, hand, heart and consider how we are leveraging our gifts and passion for God to serve our community in 2025 for such a time as this.
Sovereign Lord, thank You for the way that You uniquely created me with what I know, what I can do and what I have a heart for. May I not hide what You have given me but use it to further Your kingdom in the New Year.