17 Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.” 18 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. (Colossians 4:17-18)
According to Paul's letter to Philemon (1:2), Archippus was most likely the son of Philemon. Paul exhorts Archippus to "complete the work." This work was the ministry that God gave him. All Christians have a ministry. When we were "born again", we were given spiritual gift(s) by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The strength of any Christian or any church is determined by believers exercising our gifts.
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
(1 Corinthians 12:4-7)
As Paul points out here, we are given spiritual gifts for the benefit of others. These gifts were not give for us, but when we think they are for us, the outcome can be detrimental to God's purposes.
Every believer - everyone who belongs to Jesus - is indwelled by the person of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9-11), who gives new life to our sin-dead spirits. It is only by His presence that we are “made alive to Him” (Titus 3:4-7).
As Paul clearly states, a spiritual gift is a specific way the Holy Spirit chooses to reveal His presence through the life of an individual believer. Do you know your spiritual gift(s)? It is imperative that you discover it/them and you exercise it/them. In order to help you discover your spiritual gift(s), click this link. https://spiritualgiftstest.com/tests/
When you discover your gift(s), you must then ask the Lord to give you His eyes to see the ministry that awaits you. I have found the following words from Henri Nouwen to be helpful in the ministry God has given me.
"Ministry means the ongoing attempt to put one’s own search for God, with all the moments of pain and joy, despair and hope, at the disposal of those who want to join this search but don’t know how. Therefore, ministry in no way is a privilege. Instead, it is the core of the Christian life. No Christian is a Christian without being a minister. There are many more forms of ministry than the five I have discussed in this book [teaching, preaching, individual pastoral care, organizing and celebrating], which usually fill the daily life of the ordained minister and priest. But whatever form the Christian ministry takes, the basis is always the same: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
But why does a man lay down his life for his friends? There is only one answer to that question: to give new life. All functions of the ministry are life giving. Whether a man teaches, preaches, counsels, plans, or celebrates, his aim is to open new perspectives, to offer new insight, to give new strength, to break through the chains of death and destruction, and to create new life which can be affirmed. In short — to make his weakness creative."
