Friend, you’ve got to clothe yourself with Christ. He’s your true garment, not that bad habit you’ve been struggling for years to stop or that t-shirt you love best. The Holy Spirit dwells within you. And before you live like Jesus, you must consume His content – the Word and prayer through fellowship. Doing these two spiritual disciplines will improve your life holistically and all-round because your level of divine knowledge will definitely increase.
Since Paul said in Romans 12:8 that “… if is to lead, do it diligently,” it means he understood that it takes diligence to lead God’s people. It takes a lot of work to bring people on board to follow one vision through discipline. Learn to pray for your leaders.
Life is beyond your physical achievements and possessions. So if you want your good works to outlive your physical existence, follow Jesus today, not lukewarmly, but graciously and sacrificially.
Sometimes, we’re too conscious of what we don’t have instead of thanking God for what we have now. God will freely give you all things, not only because He has abundant resources but because He’s faithful and committed to you, whether people like you or not.
There’s only one thing that can help you to make concrete decisions and enforce them. It’s called vision. As long as you know where God is taking you in the future, you’ll figure out where you’re not going so skillfully. You’ll easily be able to distinguish between the voice of God and the suggestions of people, as good as they may be.
So many things people see as earthly have spiritual meaning to them. If only we would study the scriptures and possess spiritual understanding, it’ll become easy to distinguish what’s flesh and what’s from the Spirit.
Vision gives birth to purposeful living. And your purpose determines your discipline, which in turn, adds value to your time. Until you focus on what God has called you to do, you’ll not see much fruition in it.
See, no matter what you do, people are watching you. Unbelievers won’t understand your Christianity. That’s why Paul didn’t say we should be an example to everyone (but to believers alone). You don’t have to live to prove anything to anyone. But you must know that God is watching what you’re using that one life you have now to do. Live to please God so privately and consciously that your life will serve as an example to other believers, even without you knowing.
We live in a world that lies in wickedness (1 John 5:19 KJV). And that means situations that’ll trigger compromise of God’s standards in us will come in multiple folds. That’s why we must take a firm stance. Decide that “If what I’m doing exalts God, I’ll do it with all my heart. And if not, I’ll resist it with all the strength of Christ in me.”
Even though we were created in Christ unto good works (Ephesians 2:10) and doing good by faith is to please the Father, Jesus knows that we are living epistles in this world. He knows some people will only get converted by the exemplary attitude of Christians around them. That’s why with whatever we do, we must factor in how it affects others.
Don’t compromise the standards of God’s Word. Be willing to associate with people of low positions to help them rise in the faith, not to lord over them, especially as a leader.
If everyone in Christ would choose to honour one another above ourselves, we won’t have issues praying against pride in our hearts.
