To the one who feels burnt out, used, or unappreciated. To the one who feels insignificant or small.
To the one who's carrying the weight of ministry and feeling burdened and tired — here are a few words of encouragement:
Your work matters.
Even if it feels like it's all been said or done before, even when it's hard, even when it goes largely unnoticed.
Your voice could be the one that makes the difference in someone's life.
There will be good days and hard days, and there may even be times when you question the decision to serve in ministry. On those days, remember why you started.
Remember your calling. Don't give up or let yourself feel discouraged.
Focus on what's important and do good work.
As Shauna Niequist wrote in her book, Cold Tangerines, "Thank you, and keep going." The world needs your gifts, your perspective, your voice, your service.
Whether you’re brand new to church work or you’ve been in ministry your whole life, here are 30 inspiring music quotes for you, the church musician:
Free Resource
The Choir Year in Review Workbook
Take some time at the end of your choir year to reflect on and evaluate what worked well and what didn't work. Where did you see signs of growth and where is there room for improvement? This workbook includes 16 questions to help you get started, plus space to write in your answers.
30 Inspiring Quotes for Church Musicians
*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
"The main end of our lives is to serve God in the serving of men in the works of our callings." - William Perkins
"Be laborious and diligent in your callings . . . and if you cheerfully serve [God] in the labour of your hands with a heavenly and obedient mind, it will be as acceptable to him as if you had spent all that time in more spiritual exercises." - Richard Baxter
"Art is when we do work that matters in a creative way, in a way that touches [people] and changes them for the better." - Seth Godin, Graceful
"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace." - 1 Peter 4:10
"As long as there are people on earth, the world will have glimpses of God. He chooses us to move through. He chooses your personality, your spunk, your passion, your strengths, and your weaknesses to work in and through and with." - Emily P. Freeman, A Million Little Ways
"In working with excellence, Christians not only serve God, but also display an attitude of service to the world." - Chris Pappalardo
"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
"Trying to do the Lord's work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you." - Corrie ten Boom
"What if your art is part of a bigger picture, part of a daily grace God has in mind for someone else?" - Emily P. Freeman, A Million Little Ways
"Alone, we can affect a few. But together, we can change the world." - Jen Hatmaker, Interrupted
"If you stay anywhere long enough, it will start to accumulate some shadows. And those shadows make it no less beautiful. It makes it something like home. It anchors you there in a way that a steady stream of pleasantness never will." - Shauna Niequist, Bread and Wine
"Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it." - A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
"Our work can be a calling only if it is reimagined as a mission of service to something beyond merely our own interests." - Timothy J. Keller, Every Good Endeavor
"What keeps people going in ministry, and what, in my experience, congregations are longing for, is an exciting and empowering vision of God, articulated in a theology that is integrated with worship, prayer, and social action." - Alister E. McGrath (source)
"Let us practice the fine art of making every work a priestly ministration. Let us believe that God is in all our simple deeds and learn to find Him there." - A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
"My call to the ministry was not a miraculous or supernatural something. On the contrary it was an inner urge calling me to serve humanity." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
"When you discover and use your gifts for the good of those you love and have chosen to serve, your life takes on beauty. It inspires others. It points toward the Creator." - Tom Patterson (as cited in More or Less)
"When we refuse to live within our limits . . . we wear out ourselves and those who lead with us . . . we compromise our effectiveness at doing the things we have been called to do. To live within our limits is to live humbly as the creature and not the Creator. Only God is infinite; the rest of us need to be very clear about what we are to be about in any given moment and say no to everything else." - Ruth Haley Barton (as cited in More or Less)
"Serving people is not heaven's requirement, only a response to heaven's mercy." - Jen Hatmaker, Interrupted
"Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart." - 2 Corinthians 4:1
"Wholeheartedness means focusing on giving our best in all we do, not for the accolades we might receive but out of a desire to do what we do as unto Christ (see Colossians 3:23). As we go about our daily tasks with thankfulness, integrity, and wholeheartedness, God sees and is pleased. Others see and His reputation is enhanced—He is glorified. When we seek to glorify God in all we do, all we do becomes ministry."- Hendricks Center for Christian Leadership and Cultural Engagement (source)
"Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." - Colossians 3:17
"What gives moments meaning is not the moments themselves but the presence of Christ with us in the midst of them." - Emily P. Freeman, Simply Tuesday
"I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music." - J. S. Bach
"Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can." - John Wesley
"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo
"Where there is devotional music, God is always at hand with His gracious presence." - J. S. Bach
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'" - Isaiah 6:8
"That's all we can do: start where we are with what we have." - Shauna Niequist, Bread and Wine
"Being his workmanship doesn’t mean we are all poets. It means we are all poems, individual created works of a creative God. And this poetry comes out uniquely through us as we worship, think, love, pray, rest, work, and exist." - Emily P. Freeman, A Million Little Ways
Related post: The Choir Year in Review: 16 Questions to Help You Evaluate Your Year
I’d love to hear from you:
What are your favorite ministry-related quotes?
