As we begin a new month, I want to talk about a subject that I think we all struggle with as pastors’ wives and that is our identity. Who am I? Where do I belong in ministry? Am I called to ministry too? How do I not live in my husband’s shadow? How do I learn to say “No?” These are all questions we have asked ourselves at one point in our ministry journey.
I personally feel that as a pastor’s wife we have a calling just like our husband but it is just in a different way. If we aren’t called to ministry, it is not going to work. Our calling is different than our husband’s while at the same time we are called to be his helpmate in his calling but our involvement in the ministry will look different at different seasons of our lives. If we have small children at home our time in ministry is limited because we must keep our priorities in order of God, family and then the church. And when one of those gets out of balance, our life will be out of balance and it results in chaos. As children get older, we can be more involved, etc. Or if God has not blessed you with children, your ministry will look different than those that have children. Remember it is God that calls us and Him that we are serving so don’t let others put unrealistic expectations on you as to where you should be serving and how much you should be involved. That is between you, God and your husband.
Because of all these questions as we ask ourselves who we are or where we belong, we cannot forget who we really are in Christ. I want to remind you of your “Identity in Christ” taken from the book Boundaries by Robert McGee.
My Identity in Christ
Because of Christ’s redemption, I am a new creation of great worth.
I am deeply loved, completely forgiven, fully pleasing,
totally accepted by God and absolutely complete in Christ.
Once we have accepted who we really are in Christ, our ministry involvement will take on a whole different look and be full of enjoyment. I want to encourage you to keep this statement in front of yourself so that when you start believing Satan’s lies you can keep yourself from believing them and remember who you really are.
We do having a calling and let’s not let anyone or anything rob us of that calling!
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