February 11, 2025
by Pastor Chuck Swindoll
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As you serve people in ministry, you will give, forgive, forget, release your own will, obey God to the maximum, and wash dirty feet with an attitude of gentleness and humility.
And yet, after all those beautiful things, you will occasionally get ripped off.
Knowing all this ahead of time will help “improve your serve,” believe me. The Bible doesn’t hide this painful reality. In 1 Peter 2:20 (addressed to servants, by the way—see verse 18), we read:
Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.
Part of this makes sense, according to our logical-and-fair standard. Part of it doesn’t. If a person does wrong and then suffers the consequences, even though he or she patiently endures the punishment, nobody applauds.
But—now get this clearly fixed in your mind—when you do what is right and suffer for it with grace and patience, God applauds!
Illustration: Jesus Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. He, the perfect God-man, was mistreated, hated, maligned, beaten, and finally nailed cruelly to a cross. He suffered awful consequences, even though He spent His life giving and serving (1 Peter 3:17–18).
One thing is certain: if people treated a perfect individual that way, then imperfect people cannot expect to escape mistreatment.
If mistreatment hasn’t happened to you yet . . . it will.