Last weekend I had the great opportunity to spend 3-1/2 days learning and growing with 45 women, all seeking God's wisdom together, and may I add, were far wiser than myself. During one of our discussions we talked about serving and the imagery of a sponge was offered by this particularly wise woman named Martha. She shared that she even had a sponge on her desk to remind her that she is not to just absorb knowledge and information, but is called to squeeze out everything that she has learned and absorbed, onto someone else.
The imagery continued as we discussed what happens to a sponge that is full of water and just sets without being wrung out. It rots and grows rancid and is of no benefit...to anyone. That's what happens to us too when we refuse to share knowledge, information and training. We rot because it is in the sharing and teaching others that we continue to be shaped through community. We open up ourselves to new channels of learning when we share knowledge with someone else. (Hint - Someone is waiting to squeeze their sponge on you too, with fresh insight and ideas.)
After all, it's all about transformation, not just information. When we apprentice someone else, we spur them on to trust their gifts, and now, new skills learned from you; to be an effective part of the body of Christ. In turn, you are transformed through your service to your apprentice; as God uses others to pour into you.
So, how about it? Are you going to squeeze your knowledge and insight into someone who is just waiting to learn? Or, are you going to keep your knowledge and skills to yourself and, well, quite frankly, become stinky, rotten and useless? If you're ready to help someone else grow in their unique gifting through the knowledge you've gain through serving Him, come see me this weekend at the Serving Team HQ Tent and I'll have a special "sponge" pin waiting for you. When someone asks you about it, you can tell them, "'Come and see' what I do here at New Horizon Church to help people know they matter to God. I'd love to teach you."
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