There are many different ways that people grow and are developed, both in church and within the community that we work and live in.  We are all called to be disciples.  In Matthew 28:18-20, we are commanded to make disciples. Jesus said “go into the world and make disciples”.

One of the ways we pursue and live out this discipleship is through volunteering our time and services.  For those of us who respond actively to this call, the benefits are many and far-reaching.

When we talk about volunteering, what do we hope to produce and gain?

Volunteers who walk by faith may be the one Jesus uses to transform another person’s life forever.  You allow yourself to be God’s instrument to touch that person and help him change.  You connect your work to a higher vision beyond the ‘task’.

Through volunteering, we are given the opportunity to experience God working through us to serve others.  Very often by walking with our beneficiaries and feeling their pain and challenges, we are reminded that God’s love is incredible, faithful, invincible, unconditional and real.  Our own lives will be significantly transformed as we grow ever closer to Jesus when we have a deeper understanding of who God wants us to be.  The experience gives you a clearer understanding of your own purpose in life.

What does the Bible say about volunteering?  Here are some Bible verses for your personal reflection:

• 1 John 3:18 “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
• 1 Peter 4:10 “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
• Hebrews 13: 1-3 “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”
• Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”