The Benefits of Worship

A few weeks ago I preached a sermon about what Jesus did in Worship and how we ought to apply His model to our Worship today.  This morning I was reading one of my daily devotionals and the subject was how our daily personal worship affects our lives and our relationships with others, particularly our spouses.  The devotional correctly pointed out that, “Personal worship is an absolute necessity for a strong marriage. It comes down to this: If I stop receiving from God, I start demanding from others. Instead of appreciating and loving and serving others, I become disappointed in them. Instead of cherishing my wife, I become aware of her shortcomings. I take out my frustrations with a less-than-perfect life and somehow blame her for my lack of fulfillment.”

As we talked about this past Sunday, anytime we tie our happiness to the actions (or inactions) of another human being, we are going to  be disappointed because ALL human beings have faults. When I consider all the times I have been irritated with a friend or family member because I don’t think they have treated me the way I would like, I recognize that I was merely transferring my displeasure with my own Spiritual relationship with God on to a convenient scapegoat.  If I am living in a proper state of Worship with God, the undesirable actions of others toward me won’t cause me to lash out at them, but rather to show them the love that God is showing me.  As the author of the devotional stated, “when my heart gets filled by God’s love and acceptance, I’m set free to love instead of worrying about being loved. I’m motivated to serve instead of becoming obsessed about whether I’m being served. I’m moved to cherish instead of feeling unappreciated…. That’s why worship sets me free. It meets my most basic need— to rest in the fact that I am known and loved, that I have a purpose, and that my eternal destiny and delight are secure.”

I encourage you to incorporate a worshipful spirit into your life and see what a difference it will make in all of your relationships.  Our Mid-week Prayer and Worship service is Wednesday at 7 p.m.  Come, let us Worship! 

-Pastor Dave Jones