We live in a word-saturated world. We don’t have to look far to find opinions; they find us. Glance through a blog, read a wall-post, scroll through your tweets, or flip through a textbook and you’ll hear hundreds of voices clamoring to persuade you. Friends, professors, authors, coworkers, and the media argue controversial issues. Don’t misunderstand; communication is great—we’re wired for it. But something powerful happens when we replace talk with action, debating with doing, and speaking with serving.
So, how do we do this? Let’s consider 5 life lessons from the Gospel of Mark.
1. Notice people. Mark 5:24-34 tells the story of a sick woman who interrupts Jesus by touching His robe. Jesus notices her and stops to meet her need.
2. Embrace ordinary. Whether they feared the storm or rebuked little children, Mark highlights the humanness of the disciples. Jesus loves using ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
3. Get alone. Mark 1:35 tells us that Jesus went off by Himself to pray. We need a continual relationship with God to speak and act like Christ.
4. Look beyond the surface. Jesus forgave sins (Mark 2:5). More than physical healing, people need spiritual healing. We must look beyond people’s external needs (money, relationships, addictions) to their spiritual disease—it keeps them disconnected from God.
5. Be determined. Mark shares several stories of Jesus commanding demons to flee. Nothing in the world, seen or unseen, can succeed against Christ. This encourages our ministry in Christ, even when we face great struggles.
Jennifer McCaman is a freelance writer from Smyrna, Tenn. A lover of words, she has been challenged by Mark to act more than she speaks.
