Spend Yourself for Souls

By Jonathan Weiss

“I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.” 2 Cor. 12:15

Fresh out of college, I came to Family Missions Company in 2008 full of big dreams and lofty ideas. Surprisingly, these past five years living as a missionary have not stolen my excitement and idealism about life, but have deepened and matured my understanding of what it means to love and serve the Lord as a man. 

Missions has made me more mature and dependable. Once I properly understood that I am responsible for the time I spend on this earth I was convicted not to waste it. If I spend my life on earthly pursuits or even on good things, but don’t work to bring souls closer to Christ, I am wasting my life. Plain and simple. 

Missions has given me a work ethic for the building of His kingdom like I never had before. I now have an urgency to bringing His love and Gospel to the poor. I cannot waste the time I have been given. God is counting on me to respond to His call on my life. I have a deep purpose to each day and each moment, and those people that I encounter each day are eternal souls that deserve and have a right to be invited to the heavenly banquet. 

Lastly I have learned that contrary to our culture’s ingrained belief, I am NOT my family’s provider, God IS. That is both a freeing reality and a scary thought. But He has shown Himself to be trustworthy and faithful in meeting all the needs of my growing family time and again. 

I am thankful everyday that God has given this sinner the grace to be His missionary to the ends of the earth.