There are a number of things that you must give in order to say that you have given yourself wholly. Every single one of these components makes a difference to your life and ministry. Your level of fruitfulness changes when you give each one of these items. …give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

1 Timothy 4: 15

1. To give yourself wholly is to give your ideas. An idea can make the difference to your entire ministry. Everyone receives heavenly ideas that are actually words of wisdom. As a minister, instead of deploying these ideas to make a bank prosper, use these God-given ideas to make the church advance.

2. To give yourself wholly is to give your education. Are you educated? You must have learnt something in school. I am sad to say that most people do not apply the things they learnt in school in their daily lives. Pastors and ministers must not send their minds on a vacation just because they are in the ministry. Use everything you have and be as wise as a serpent.

3. To give yourself wholly is to give your connections. Whom do you know? You must know somebody important. Use that connection for the church. Have you noticed how businessmen are constantly seeking to use their connections to make more money? To give yourself wholly is to use all the connections you have to help the work of God.

4. To give yourself wholly is to give your gifts. Your gift is the thing you are able to do which others find very difficult to do.

5. To give yourself wholly is to give your skills. There are certain skills you have acquired. I can play the piano, the drums and guitar. I have used these skills to develop the church and the music ministry. What skills do you have?

6. To give yourself wholly is to give your background. Use whatever background you have. I have a pastor who used to be a hunter. He would hunt fearlessly in the deep and dark forest in the middle of the night. He slept peacefully on the leaves in the forest anytime he was tired. It is against this background that he felt the call of God and became a minister of the gospel. I also have a pastor who used to be a fisherman, fishing for shrimps in the deep ocean in between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire in the middle of the night. Your background will definitely have a part to play in your calling. Give everything to God. You can give yourself wholly to what you believe in.

7. To give yourself wholly is to give your time. You must give your morning, evening and noontime to the Lord. Any minister who has enough time to do other things must realise that what he gives to business is what he could have given to the Lord. I was running a business when the Lord asked me to give myself wholly to the ministry. I then gave up my hybrid ministry and all the time that I would have spent following my truck around, I spent serving the Lord.

8. To give yourself wholly is to give your family. Give your wife and give your children to the Lord. It is a wonder that many ministers of the gospel do not want their children to serve in the ministry. There is no higher job and no better place for your family to be than in the ministry. When your family joins you in the ministry, your ministry will go higher.

9. To give yourself wholly is to give your home. Give your home to the ministry by making it a centre of hospitality and refreshment.

10. To give yourself wholly is to give your money. One of the ways to check if your heart is right is to give your money also. Many ministers expect people to give money, but they must also put their money into the ministry.

11. To give yourself wholly is to give your assets. What do you own? Throw it in and God will bless you. I once received a gift of beautiful desks and cabinets. Our church office did not have such desks. I immediately gave everything to the church office. Our ministry office was transformed overnight with this contribution. I had given myself, I had given my time, but I was also giving my assets.

12. To give yourself wholly is to give your energy. I am constantly amazed at people who have no energy for the church. Yet they have energy to stay up watching films for hours on end. Indeed, energy is released for everything else but God! Throw in your energy as well. Give your energy to God. Get tired doing the work of God giving Him the best days of your life.

13. To give yourself wholly to the ministry is to throw in everything that you possess. Throw everything that you have control of into the ministry. When you give yourself wholly, you will not have any time or strength to do other things, but you will reap a good harvest.