High hopes

Matthew 25:24-29 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, [there] thou hast [that is] thine. His lord answered and said unto him, [Thou] wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and [then] at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give [it] unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Whatever God gives us, He has set high hopes in what we can achieve with those gifts. To those who are faithful to multiply the gifts, money, talents etc God adds to them more. To those who don't, they lose whatever gift they have. 

This doesn't give room to those who simply do nothing with whatever gift they possess. The love God pours out to us is so much. As result, some think God doesn't require results. Infact the more one is loved, the more results he expects of us. Love is not an excuse for laziness. The greater the love, the more hardworking we should be. This is the new covenant way of living not as the old way where men related to God out of fear of punishment. 

I see this also in the ministry, those who draw close to the pastor often experience the love, peace and comfort such a close relationship provides but at the same time they are the ones who are heavily challenged by the pastor to do more work in the ministry. Those who out of fear, keep away become so distant from the man or woman of God often think wrong thoughts about him or her. Sometimes they think he's tough yet in reality they are loving. Because of that they don't do much for church and the Lord. When they get a problem, they can't dare call the pastor or the Missional family leaders they are under. They end up leaving the church because they feel like they are outcasts. This is also true in the corporate world. The closer you are to your boss, the more he expects great results from you. Even when such a one makes mistakes, they don't run away. They ask for forgiveness and are restored.

God's standards are so high. One cannot meet them if they operate in fear and with good intentions. Meeting the high hopes and standards set for us morally, legally, communally etc is much easier since you know the heart of the leader and you wouldn't want to disappoint them. Would you want to disappoint your God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit or even your boss who is not only your master but also your friend?

As far as I know, a true friend does all they can even when it costs them a lot in order not to disappoint a fellow friend. Child of God, we are friends of God thus we can do much more than what you are currently doing because of the grace and the love which is bestowed on us.