In Appreciation of Pastors, Part One

Grace Moment by Moment-weekly column
October is Pastor Appreciation Month. I thought it appropriate to include something encouraging for all the Pastoral Staff serving Christ around the world. Here is a poem I wrote a few years ago that sums up thoughts on ministry from a Pastor's perspective. God bless all of you! You are in my prayers.

Pastors:
Always Seeking To Do God's Best
"Dear Father, this week I learned
if I continue to yearn,
for the approval of men,
I would not come to depend,
on what is the Will of God
but on mine, as I traverse life's sod.
Help me to remember,
I am Your child forever!
That I need not feel trapped or constrained,
nor without Your strength, though mine is drained.
Help my flock to understand, and not take offense
when I must follow Your Word, and commence
to confront those who commit to do wrong,
and who refuse to turn aside their wrath, replacing it instead, with Love which suffers long.
If there is one thing I could do to reach
the lost and my flock, it would be to teach
them, "and now abide faith, hope, and love,
these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Father, as I seek to do my best,
I know You will do the rest,
and may this ever be my song to sing,
"Jesus, You are Abba, Daddy, Father, Lord of Lords and King of Kings! Amen.'"

Written on:
August 28, 1994.

Written by:
Belle Anne Leslie

Scripture Reference:
I Corinthians 13:13