Easy and Hard

Here's a thought. Doing Christian ministry is not that hard. On a human level, it's a skill like anything else. Writing a talk, doing a bible study - assuming your not a complete moron you can learn how to do these things and, once learnt, the skills stay with you. But living the Christian life is very different. It's not a skill, it's a matter of obedience. And I don't care who you are, that's tough. I find it particularly hard at times. Although these 2 things should go together (ministry and the Christian life) I have discovered its very possible to be good at the first while neglecting the later. Paul reminds us in 1 Timothy that it shouldn't be like that, 'godliness before giftedness' is the often quoted phrase. And that's spot on. But how to balance a learned skill with faithful obedience is something I have certiabnly not mastered as yet. Scott