“But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24 NASB2020https://bible.com/bible/2692/act.20.24.NASB2020

The key to ministry success is to deny ourselves in order to make identification with Jesus our first priority. The work of God has been entrusted to men to build His kingdom. This work is physical through procreation, God only made one man from the ground, and one woman from that man’s side. God’s command for that man and woman to be fruitful and multiply contained in it His desire for people to populate His kingdom forever. The purpose of marriage, and why God despises divorce and all sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and a woman, is to produce godly children. When God came to live among us as one of us He started His church and commanded that His people who love Him and follow Him go for Him to all people making known His love and work for them and teach people everything He commanded us. This work is accomplished through proclamation of God’s work by Jesus on the cross and His resurrection from the dead leading to the salvation and thus the multiplication, of people who will forever live with God in His eternal kingdom. For a disciple of Jesus, a true Christian, to successfully accomplish God’s work in the world, like Jesus, we must deny ourselves and share with people the love of God. The reason this work is hard is because so many hate God and His good ways so they seek to silence, punish and destroy those who proclaim Jesus as the way, the truth and the only means to eternal life. As Christians we must ask ourselves what we truly want, God’s approval or man’s approval?