Following are a couple of quotes from Charles Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students. They are good roughage for the soul of those who serve others to chew on.
Quoting M’Cheyne: “It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.”
Spurgeon: “True and genuine piety is necessary as the first indispensable requisite; whatever “call” a man may pretend to have, if he has not been called to holiness, he certainly has not been called to the ministry.”
Character holds the priority over gifts every time. Who I am will make more of a lasting impact than What I can do or how Well I can do it. There is an old, well-known story about a preacher who lived a less than godly life. It is said that he preached so well that when he went up to preach the people wished that he would never come. However, it was also said that he lived so poorly that when he was not preaching the people wished he would never go up to do so!
This is not only applicable to preachers! For all of us, the question we must continually ask is: "What is my reputation with others? Do they see in me a disciple of Christ? Do they see one who takes up his/her cross daily to follow Jesus? Do they witness the fruit of the Holy Spirit when I am near? Do they see one whose life matches his words? Am I a fragrance of Christ or of His enemy?"
God will bless personal holiness to have a lasting impact on others. May we all pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14
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