{"id":79192,"date":"2023-11-17T18:01:12","date_gmt":"2023-11-18T00:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/?p=79192"},"modified":"2023-11-17T18:01:12","modified_gmt":"2023-11-18T00:01:12","slug":"put-on-your-oxygen-mask-before-assisting-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/put-on-your-oxygen-mask-before-assisting-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Put On Your Oxygen Mask Before Assisting Others"},"content":{"rendered":"

Put On Your Oxygen Mask Before Assisting Others<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Recently I visited an 82-year-old friend from the past. He was feeling low. When we finally got down to why, it was this: he had lost his sense of purpose. How does that happen, and how can we make sure it doesn\u2019t happen to us? He had run out of \u201cspiritual oxygen.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Patrick Morley<\/strong>
\nMIM Founder & Executive Chairman<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Paul is toward the end of his career and writing to Timothy, his prot\u00e9g\u00e9, from prison.<\/p>\n

Besides Timothy, Paul mentions about 20 different colleagues in ministry. Out of those, he identifies five by name who have either become false teachers or turned against him. Five out of 20\u2014a quarter of them.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve no doubt that Paul had gained a certain perspective and experienced many disappointments after years of doing work to bring others to Christ. Likewise, if you\u2019ve been doing work for God for years, you have also been let down and seen others walk away.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not negative or fatalistic to acknowledge that. It\u2019s just that the elephant in the room for all people is the fall. This world is not the kingdom of God; it\u2019s a difficult place, and it pulls many people away from Him.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s with this reality in mind that Paul is giving final exhortations to Timothy\u2014his brother, friend, colleague, prot\u00e9g\u00e9, and son. It is the advice of a seasoned pro. Paul\u2019s been a lot of places, seen a lot of things, and this last letter is what he wants to leave him with.<\/p>\n

Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First<\/strong>
\nIn\u00a02 Timothy 1:13-14<\/a>, Paul writes:
\nFollow\u00a0the pattern of\u00a0the sound words\u00a0that you have heard from me, in\u00a0the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit\u00a0who dwells within us, guard\u00a0the good deposit entrusted to you.<\/p>\n

Like Paul knew people who\u2019d fallen away, you likely have, too\u2014people who forgot to tend to their own walk with God, even while doing great service\u00a0for<\/em>\u00a0God. They eventually got burned out or were led astray.<\/p>\n

I was with an 82-year-old man recently, a friend of mine from the past. He was feeling low. When we finally got down to why he was so discouraged and depressed, it was this: he had lost his sense of purpose. He\u2019d gotten burned out. He\u2019d gotten away from God. He wasn\u2019t doing any work for God because he no longer had a walk with God.<\/p>\n

Paul wanted Timothy to guard the good deposit because he understood this truth: your work\u00a0for\u00a0<\/em>God will always be a reflection of your walk\u00a0with<\/em>\u00a0God.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever flown on an airplane, you\u2019ve heard some version of this instruction from the flight attendant: \u201cShould the cabin lose pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the overhead area.\u00a0Please place the oxygen mask over your own mouth and nose before assisting others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why do they say that? If you prioritize assisting others in an emergency when the oxygen level drops before yourself, you\u2019ll quickly be unconscious, unable to help anyone.<\/p>\n

Essentially, Paul is saying, \u201cTimothy, if you want to do ministry, if you want to make disciples, you must put on your own oxygen mask first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many Christians, myself included, have at some point been doing so much work for God that they didn\u2019t take care of themselves. They didn\u2019t put on their own oxygen mask first. And then suddenly, the oxygen level drops. They\u2019re exhausted. They\u2019re struggling to breathe. They don\u2019t have enough oxygen for themselves, let alone for anyone else.<\/p>\n

If you want to disciple others, your #1 priority is your walk with God. Fill up in your own relationship with Jesus; only then will you have an overflow of Jesus to give away to other people.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s How: 3 Best Practices<\/strong>
\nIn\u00a02 Timothy 1:13-14<\/a>, we see three best practices in Paul\u2019s advice that we, too, can use to keep the oxygen flowing in our walk with God.<\/p>\n

Follow\u00a0the pattern of\u00a0the sound words\u00a0that you have heard from me, in\u00a0the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit\u00a0who dwells within us, guard\u00a0the good deposit entrusted to you.<\/p>\n

1) Communication in Relationship<\/strong>
\n\u201cFollow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>How was the sound teaching given from Paul to Timothy? It was given through communication in relationship.<\/p>\n

Certainly, there were written communications such as this letter, and Timothy would\u2019ve watched and listened closely as Paul taught and preached. But they also hung out together. They would\u2019ve spent hours in conversation over the years as they did different ministry projects together and traveled.<\/p>\n

We need to talk to each other. Really talk. It could be through a letter, a text, a phone call, or an email. But the best means is through time spent together, such as over a meal, on a hike, fishing, or some other activity. Let\u2019s remind, encourage, challenge, and counsel each other. In doing so, we will help each other stay the course.<\/p>\n

2) An Attitude of Faith and Love<\/strong>
\n\u201c\u2026\u00a0in\u00a0the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus<\/em>.\u201d This is the attitude with which we guard our hearts\u2014with which we keep the pattern of sound teaching. We do it with faith and love.<\/p>\n

What is an attitude of faith? Faith is the assurance of things we hope for and the conviction of things we don\u2019t see (Hebrews 11:1<\/a>). Said another way, faith is believing God anyway in the face of impossible circumstances.<\/p>\n

Paul wrote about love all throughout his letters\u2014things like \u201cThe entire law is summed up in this one command: love one another as Christ has loved you\u201d (Galatians 5:14<\/a>);\u00a0\u201cDo everything in love\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(1 Corinthians 6:14<\/a>); and \u201cThree things will last forever\u2014faith, hope, and love\u2014and the greatest of these is love\u201d (1 Corinthians 13:13<\/a>).<\/p>\n

As we are following what we\u2019ve been taught, we are to approach our relationships and circumstances with an attitude of faith and love.<\/p>\n

3) The Help of the Holy Spirit<\/strong>
\n\u201cBy the Holy Spirit\u00a0who dwells within us, guard\u00a0the good deposit entrusted to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>First, notice the word \u201cus.\u201d \u00a0Paul\u2019s not saying do this with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, Timothy, and in me, Paul, but with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells within all of us.<\/p>\n

Similarly, when we pray the Lord\u2019s prayer, we don\u2019t say, \u201cMy Father in heaven, give me this day my daily bread, forgive me my sins, keep me from evil, don\u2019t let me yield to temptation.\u201d It\u2019s\u00a0our<\/em>\u00a0Father\u2014and it\u2019s\u00a0us<\/em>. \u201cUs\u201d is the ethos of the Christian life.<\/p>\n

But Paul also reminds Timothy that it\u2019s more than a communal, human \u201cus.\u201d We can do a lot with our own human strength to the best of our ability. And we can do even more together. But when the Holy Spirit becomes part of the equation, it\u2019s a total game changer.<\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit is called many things in the Scriptures, such as the advocate, counselor, helper, and comforter. And that same Holy Spirit dwells within us! Just as Jesus told His disciples, the Father has sent the Holy Spirit to remind us of everything we\u2019ve been taught.<\/p>\n

When we open ourselves up to\u00a0the help of the Holy Spirit<\/a>\u00a0in guarding this deposit, He fills us up to the overflow in our relationship with Him.<\/p>\n

Do you want to assist others? These three best practices will help you put on your oxygen mask first and keep the oxygen flowing so that you can truly be used by God in the lives of others.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9\u00a0\u00a0Man in the Mirror<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Put On Your Oxygen Mask Before Assisting Others Recently I visited an 82-year-old friend from the past. He was feeling low. When we finally got down to why, it was this: he had lost his sense of purpose. How does that happen, and how can we make sure it doesn\u2019t happen to us? He had <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":79193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3380,4661,276,266],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-leadership-articles","category-resources-ndi","category-sunday-school-and-discipleship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}