It is well with you, my friend. Church hurt is not for the faint-hearted. Even I myself have been wounded; as a matter of fact, I have. So much so that when I see myself now, it has to be the grace of God, as a matter of fact. It has to be, you know, even dealing with people, relating with people, opening one's heart to people again; it has to be the grace of God because, yeah, there have been wounds in the past, hallelujah.

You know, let me start by saying that every single person has a secret deposit of God inside of them that the world cannot do without, as a matter of fact. Observe how every single country, upon every continent, has some resource that they have, whether it's oil, gold, diamonds, or whether it's people. In some countries, it's religion that is their export, but in every nation, there is a secret substance that they have, given to them by God Almighty, that can add to the commonwealth of all creation.

And one of the things the enemy tries to do is to make sure that that hidden potential never comes out of us. By whatever means he will use, the end goal is that that deposit of God inside of you that is meant for the benefit of anywhere you find yourself will never come out.

When you study the book of Genesis, chapter 1, you discover that everything that God called good were things that bore fruit after their kind, meaning God has planted something inside of everyone. And what God considers good is when that thing that has been planted inside of you comes out. Literally, we describe evil as goodness that is concealed, goodness that is held back.

When you can help someone who is injured, like in the Good Samaritan story, the priests in that moment were considered evil because the goodness that they were capable of; they withheld from that injured robber by the wayside for this or that reason. Maybe in the past, I don't know, someone cheated them; who knows what reason they had for walking past that injured person? But the fact is, there was a good inside of them that they allowed a strong argument of the serpent to make them withhold.

Life is reciprocal in nature. And it's not just about, you know, serving in church or whatever; wherever we find ourselves, whether it's in a relationship, in a marital relationship, in a relationship with our children, in a relationship in the office, that is your relationship between you and the company, or even as a citizen of a nation. Everybody is meant to contribute something, as a matter of fact. There is something missing in the room when you are not there.

And you see, we as a people have to have that mindset that if I keep this light inside of me, that is meant to benefit these people here, a kind of robbery is happening. And in truth, a kind of robbery is happening. Because when the Bible talks about a person being blessed, it's not by how much they have, but by how much others have because of them. That's why the Bible says we are more blessed in giving than in receiving.

And so, for many of us, it's not that the devil orchestrates some kind of tragedy that will happen in the church. He will use a memory of the past to hinder us from hearkening to the voice of God. Are you following me? And that's something that we have to be very intentional about combating. It's not about whether or not I should serve or not, because sometimes God can tell you to go to a place and keep quiet. But what is the reason why one is withholding themselves? Why are you? What is the reason? And that's the most important thing because we want to understand who is the one that is holding you.

Don't allow the foolishness of men to rob you of the wisdom of God, my dear, do you understand me? Your life means something; it adds something to the room. There's something missing when you are not there, do you understand? And you have to see yourself like that. There's something missing, even if your own is just to be present and sit down, and when they say pray, you are praying with all your heart even if nobody knows you. You see, that's a contribution.

You must understand that your presence has significance; your presence has weight, and it's not a trivial thing to just remove yourself from anywhere. No, it's not holy to think of yourself as small and inconsequential. It's not. There's nothing holy about that, as a matter of fact.

Are you listening to me? So wherever we are, we must be a people that are willing to add to the commonwealth of any place we find ourselves, be it a church, a ministry, a friendship, or being a member of a country, wherever we find ourselves. For example, if you want to get a visa to the Netherlands, part of the reason why they charge you a lot is because they want people who are contributors to their society. They can't fill their nation with refugees; their nation will not be attractive if it's only refugees they have there. They're looking for contributors.

So as Christians, we have to have that contributory mindset. Everyone has something to give, and it's a robbery when we hold it. Everyone has something; they might not all have the same thing, but everyone has something, and it matters to God. You understand? Don't let the enemy rob you of something great. It is well with you, my friend.