At our Wednesday night Women\u2019s Bible Study \u2014 picture about fifty women, Bibles open, our cups and mugs in hand \u2014 we talked about spiritual gifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of us are encouragers. Some are intercessors. Some are prayer warriors. And then there are those who, like Mary, have the gift of simply sitting at Jesus\u2019 feet and soaking in His presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But forgive me \u2014 I think Martha gets a bad rap. Scripture often paints her as the frazzled hostess who missed the moment while Mary sat wide-eyed at Jesus\u2019 feet (Luke 10:38-42).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But let\u2019s be honest \u2014 if Jesus showed up at our house, most of us would grab the broom, light the candles, and whip out our best casserole. Can we blame Martha for wanting the house to smell like fresh bread instead of last night\u2019s leftovers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary chose the \u201cbetter\u201d thing that day \u2014 to listen and learn. But Martha\u2019s serving was born out of love too. Sometimes the best way to worship is to cook a meal, set a table, or create space for others to encounter Christ. Sometimes the holiest thing we can do is wipe counters, pour coffee, and offer a warm welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus didn\u2019t scold Martha for serving. He gently reminded her not to be worried and upset about many things. (Luke 10:41). The issue wasn\u2019t her service; it was her stress. Her love was right \u2014 her pace was just frantic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The truth is, the church needs both Marys and Marthas. We need those who sit quietly in prayer and those who roll up their sleeves to make ministry happen. Sometimes we\u2019re Mary, resting and listening. Sometimes we\u2019re Martha, hustling with joy. Both can honor Jesus when our hearts are tuned to Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colossians 3:23 tells us, \u201cWhatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.\u201d Whether that\u2019s cooking for the crowd, teaching children, praying behind the scenes, or quietly listening \u2014 if we do it in love for Him, it\u2019s worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, let\u2019s not compare or compete. Let\u2019s serve and sit. Let\u2019s pray and pour coffee or tea. Let\u2019s be Mary and Martha \u2014 loving Jesus with our hands and with our hearts. It’s all worship when it’s done for Jesus!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#ServeWithLove #MaryAndMartha<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At our Wednesday night Women\u2019s Bible Study \u2014 picture about fifty women, Bibles open, our cups and mugs in hand \u2014 we talked about spiritual gifts. Some of us are encouragers. Some are intercessors. Some are prayer warriors. And then there are those who, like Mary, have the gift of simply sitting at Jesus\u2019 feet…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26573,1210,32571,734,32572,1769,16535,40,32570,32573,5808,6806,542,17888,32576,8265,32574,32371,9700,32575,1963,140],"class_list":["post-22898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bibles","tag-blog","tag-broom","tag-candles","tag-casserole","tag-christian","tag-encouragers","tag-inspiration","tag-intercessors","tag-listen-and-learn","tag-luke-1038-42","tag-martha","tag-mary","tag-prayer-warriors","tag-serve-and-sit","tag-serving","tag-strress","tag-upset","tag-womens-bible-study","tag-work-with-all-your-heart","tag-worried","tag-worship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22900,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22898\/revisions\/22900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}