Trophies that Last
Theme for the Week: Hearts that Serve
Saturday, September 8, 2001
 1 of 1
Q. What motivates you?
A. Flipping through granddad's Bible, I came across a newspaper clipping about a Punt, Pass and Kick Competition I'd won as a boy. Pictured holding a gold football player statuette was a freckled-face 10-year-old sporting a world-class grin. That yellowed clipping, like the tarnished trophies themselves, reminded me how important it is to invest my life in things that won't tarnish or fade.
It's not about fame or money. It's about people. Paul told the Thessalonian believers that they were his "joy and crown." It wasn't his impressive resume, apostolic authority, or world travels that brought Paul fulfillment. He wrote to the Colossians that his goal was to present them "complete in Christ."
The people in Paul's life didn't exist to make him look good or to serve him. They were there for him to serve, nurture, and care for. Once he even described his love for them like a mother, "tenderly caring for her own."
What have you learned from working with students for the last two decades?
They couldn't care less about how slickly we package our gospel message. They want to know if we're real, if we have something worth sharing with them, and if we genuinely care.
If you desire to leave behind a legacy, spend the few years you have pouring your life into people for Christ's sake. Give them your time, resources, energyand your faith. This way, you'll leave behind a priceless inheritance in the lives of others. I'll take that over an old trophy any day!
Jeff Kinley serves teenagers with the Little Rock, Arkansas-based Main Thing Ministries.
Adapted from: Sharing the Victory (4/00) with permission.
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Men of Integrity magazine.
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Lord, I want to bring You pleasure this week by the way I serve others.
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