What makes anyone qualified to do anything?
Lately, I have been battling the thought of, “what right do I have to minister to anyone?” because I am not in full time “people” ministry and I don’t have some piece of paper saying that I completed 120 hours of college classes.
It is true that I have served and worked in ministry in some capacity for nearly 8 years now–but mainly in communications (web, writing, design). When it comes to all of the things I am trying to tackle now (ie. writing for and counseling women with porn/sex addiction, leading lifegroup online, etc.) I battle the thought of “am I qualified?”
After all, I am only 24. I am a girl in a land of boys. I don’t have the book smarts. And I am not all that eloquent.
They say that God equips the called and not necessarily calls the equipped. I pray that is the case for me and these things I feel He’s calling me to do right now. I have my own life experiences to fall back on–but I certainly have a lot more to learn.
Just because I have a piece of paper saying I have a degree in counseling psychology does not mean I can help people. In fact most people I graduated from college with are not using their degree in any capacity. In fact stats show that most people that get my degree never use it because they were, in reality, looking for something to fix themselves.
I am only a good counselor if HE is working in me and through me. I have no hope to offer without Jesus Christ.
You have a God given desire and passion to help others with this struggle Crystal. Don’t ever forget that. All you need HE will give you. Of this I have no doubt.
And I for one cannot wait to see how mightily He is going to use you in this area. Know that you have friends praying for you.
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I think if you are called to do something then thats what you should do. I think that if God calls you to do something he will make a way.
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YOU… loving people the way you do… qualifies you for all God is calling you to do!
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My thought is that people minister to people all the time. You, me, the guy on the street corner. As long as our conversations are bible based and not self-interested based – don’t you think that God would approve? I do believe that our teachers – ie lead pastors – must be held to a higher standard than others. I also believe that they make mistakes like the rest of us.
So, when is a person qualified? I am not sure. I learned lessons from my daughter almost everyday. I learned things from people on the web, in casual conversation, in bible studies, in life groups, the list goes on and on.
This may not be exactly what you were talking about, but this is what came out.
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