Godly Gals ~ Angela Bickford
Are You Serving God By Serving Others?
By: Angela Bickford
We don’t gain access to heaven through good deeds, but we do serve God by serving others and having an attitude of servant hood. What a great way to show the love of Christ – helping others in their time of need.
But what happens when helping others takes away from your relationship with God? What if God is showing you a different path to take – one that includes setting boundaries with certain people and being a giver of the tough-love kind?
I never thought God would ever expect or ask me to not help someone – especially a family member.
Recently a situation occurred in my life that required me to really seek out God’s wisdom in how to best handle what had occurred. Should I continue to help a family member who desperately needed the help, but had crossed the line numerous times and had started to put my family in danger? This person was coming between my husband and me, affecting my relationship with God, and causing me to begin to doubt my quality and worth as a human being.
Yet, I continued to help.
Then, in a moment of crisis, I reached out to my LeadHer team; opened my heart and shared the situation with them. What a humbling experience. Here is what I learned:
“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.” ~Matthew 7:6 NIV
I can’t begin to tell you how that verse spoke to me. Through that one verse and my team of beautiful, Godly women – leaders within their sphere of influence – I learned a valuable lesson that I’d like to share with you…
It is okay – I repeat – okay – to set boundaries in relationships, give tough-love, or choose to not help someone.
So, how do you know when you should and when you shouldn’t?
Seek out God’s will for your particular situation. Immerse yourself in scripture. Ask for prayer and seek wise counsel from a group of women like those involved with LeadHer.
I’m so honored to be a guest today on Mel’s blog. I hope that this post spoke to you… this was a particularly hard lesson for me, but one that was worth every moment. I also hope that you’ll check out what LeadHer has to offer. Sharing our struggles, stories, and lessons is just one way we can each become a LeadHer within our sphere of influence.
Angela is a Jill-of-all-trades, so to speak. She has a home-business where she sells custom stationery and gifts, has created a resource website for her local community, is the Local Director for LeadHer, a new women’s ministry, and does various freelancing projects in her spare time. She lives in Texas with her family. You can find her at www.angelabickford.com.
LeadHer, a NEW Women’s Ministry launching in May 2011. The purpose of LeadHer is to encourage, educate, equip, and exemplify biblical leadership for women so they can have a stronger impact within their spheres of influence. For more information about LeadHer make sure you stop by our Facebook page.
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Thanks so much Angela for sharing such a tender part of your heart with us. It’s not easy to be so vulnerable but you did it was such grace girl! I’m so thankful to be on this LeadHer journey with you!
I’m also praying that one of my South Florida friends will pick up the ball and run with it to start a South Florida chapter of the LeadHer Local. (hint hint)
God has really brought us some amazing Godly Gals to this series. It is truly humbling to see how He uses each and every one of us to do His work. Thank you to all the previous Godly Gals for being “Real Women, Real Life, Real Faith” in action!
Right now I’m looking for YOU to join us on this amazing journey!
I’m scheduling posts for new Godly Gals for June/July right now and I would love to have you join us! If you would like more information about being a part of the series, then send me an email to melsworldministry {at} gmail {dot} com and I’ll send you a copy of the submission guidelines.
Have a fantastic day!
