When ministry turns into duty.

Duty, according to the dictionary, is "a moral or legal obligation, a responsibility" or "a task/action that one is required to perform."  Duties can very easily turn into drudgery.  As mothers, we can think of many duties that are needful to keep a home "running," be it preparing meals, cleaning spills, wiping bottoms, washing laundry, teaching lessons, discipline and the list goes on and on and without a Christ centered prospective these duties can easily turn into drudgery {"hard, menial or dull work"}. 

I confess, when I woke up this morning I dreaded getting out of bed for the fact that I had "duties" that I was expected to perform.  And this is how I have been waking up for the past month. What happened?  I had slowly been led astray/deceived into thinking that more than anything motherhood was full of duties. 

"If we do something simply out of duty, we are trying to live up to a standard that competes with Jesus Christ...We have put our sense of duty on the throne of our life, instead of enthroning the resurrection life of Jesus Christ."

What would it look like if we let the Holy Spirit lead our ministry instead of a sense of duty? 

Tozer once said this, "If God were to take the Holy Spirit out of this world, most of what the church is doing would go right on and nobody would know the difference."

Is this true in our homes too?  Are we so set/firmly rooted on a daily schedule that we leave no room for the Holy Spirit to minister?  Do we keep time to the point that we turn away a hurting friend or neighbor.  Does finishing the next worksheet take precedence over a child who needs prayer?  If God were to take the Holy Spirit out of your home, would most of what you are doing remain the same?

I can remember many times that I was so dead set on finishing a lesson with my children that I ignored the Holy Spirit's prompting that one of my children had a more important issue that needed tending to.  I have made the excuse that I spent hours preparing these lessons and therefore this "pressing matter" would just have to wait.  Or, a child is progressing so quickly in their reading that I can wait to deal with their sinful attitude until they have perfected their pronunciation of a particular word.  

Some may argue, "but our home runs best with a schedule." Consider the words of Dr. D Martyn Loyd-Jones.

"We all tend to go to extremes; some rely on their own preparation and look for nothing more; others, as I say, tend to despise preparation and trust to the unction the anointing and the inspiration of the Spirit alone.  But there must be not either/or here; it is always both/and. These two things must go together."

The Lord wants to transform our ministry of motherhood.  But first we need to see that our daily duties are actually not duties at all.  And secondly, we must allow the Holy Spirit to rule and reign.  Often I have heard the Holy Spirit speak into my day, but I was so focused on my schedule/list of to do's that I missed a blessing that He wanted to rain down onto our home.

When it comes down to it,  the ministry of motherhood is an act of obedience.  

"When we do something out of obedience to the Lord, there can be not other explanation-just obedience.  That is why the saint can be so easily ridiculed and misunderstood." Chambers

My heart rejoices, and a burden has been lifted, as I have once again been led back to the truth! MOTHERHOOD is MINISTRY.  A daily worship that rises like incense to our Lord.

P.S.  Another element to remember, and something that I will expand on in another post is,

"Without love for people {our children} we serve, ministry becomes drudgery."