Dear One,

Remember the old hymn Blessed Assurance? Jesus is mine…This is my story… I sometimes have trouble remembering which of the old songs have not been sung in so long that they are now new songs to a younger generation. This song has been a source of great comfort for many in previous generations because it is a proclamation of individual faith before God. The comfort that comes from knowing you hold this promise cannot be replaced. I wish you that comfort.

Perhaps in your good efforts to serve others to the best of your ability you have experienced discouragement from those around you. No doubt they do not mean it to be so. Likely they would stop immediately if they knew their teasing or comparing was actually having that effect. Have you told yourself you were just being too sensitive? Perhaps you were. One of the ground rules of loving friendship is that you do not assume the worst from others. “Believing all things,” as 1 Cor 13 puts it, is hoping for the best, but also giving the benefit of the doubt. It should be very difficult to hurt your feelings because you work at finding an explanation for any comment that is favorable to the one who spoke. But it is also difficult not to feel the wind taken out of your sails when the efforts you have made to selflessly serve are criticized.

Mary felt this sting. Mark 14 shows she apparently realized during the last week of Jesus’ life that He needed encouragement. It is one thing to suffer, but often it is even more difficult to watch another do so and have no way to help. So, she did the only thing she could think of—she anointed Him with the expensive alabaster jar of ointment she had. It was a superficial act in so many ways. It could not change the future or cure the sick or preach to the world, but it was an act of comfort and esteem. And what did she get for it? Criticism. Others were quick with advice on how wasteful this was, and all the other things she could have done with it. Thank Jesus that He was there to take up for her. Not only did He defend her choice, but He told the others to leave her alone. Perhaps you have wished for that same intervention.

Perhaps Mary did not understand all the good Jesus was going to make from this extreme act of sacrifice. Maybe she was just desperately trying to do something, but Jesus said this was in preparation for His burial. Have you ever thought how this much perfume would smell? Even after a few days? Is it possible that the scent of this perfume and the memory of her act would be there as Jesus was tried and died? If so, how much comfort that would bring Him to know that He was not totally rejected by men, and that she was an example of the ones He was dying for. I do not know any of this, but I strongly suspect there may be a valid thought here.

When Jesus said, “She has done what she could,” He was validating the efforts she made to serve. Regardless of the physical outcome, Jesus knew her heart and that her intention was pure. I hope when I see the efforts of others, no matter how “insufficient” they may be, I will look beyond the act and effect to the motivation of the server. Sometimes it truly is the thought that counts. The love expressed by a child in the pictures they create and favors they do stands as a testament to their goodness, and those are the works of art suitable for framing.

You know your own heart, dear one. If the criticism you receive is justified, then I pray you will have the courage to look it squarely in the eye and make correction. But if your kind tenderness and quick insight prompt you to choose to serve in ways others do not understand I hope you will have the fortitude to know that they are not your judges. You do not need to compete with others in service, and you also do not answer to them. Paul said in Gal 6:4 that each of us need to examine our own work. Our Master knows us.

I hope the thoughtless comments of others will not take from you the assurance you have in Christ Jesus. Your zeal of service for Him is a blessing to others. The Blessed Assurance of knowing you have done what you could will carry you through.

your loving friend,

Laurie Moyer

“Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” Romans 14:4