I was thinking of a verse today since i have been talking about the church making changes and reaching people and I think this passage fits perfectly into the concept. It is found in Ephesians 4:11-16 and states, "It was he who gave some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the wave, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead speaking truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." The point of this passage is not that everyone is called to be a teacher or pastor and that you are a failure if you are not, it means that we all have special talents that Christ has given us and collectively we make up the body of the church. It is our job to build one another up and not tear each other down with words and such, just imagine if the bones and ligaments in your body started fighting with each other and doing their own thing, it would be pure chaos and we would lose all control of our bodies. The same applies for those in Christ. We all have to work together to reach a common goal in order to get things done.
I believe this applies to me because it shows me that no matter what I am doing in the church, as long as I am working for the benefit of it, I am useful and people of any age can be useful. It is a learning process and no matter how young you are in Christ (Spiritually), it is possible to make a difference. It is my job to help myself and those around me understand as much about Christ and his love as possible. The very thing that Jesus did as he walked the earth. Changing lives is apart of growing in Christ and being effective when reaching out to people. When the whole church is in support, it is that much easier to touch people and help them change. I also need to grow out of the infant stage that I have been in so long and mature in Christ so that it is harder for Satan to get ahold of me and harder for my friends around me to influence my decisions. It is in Christ that we find strength and it is through him that we are saved. A warning to myself and others is that we cannot become complacent with what we have done or feel like we have done enough. Our work here is not completed until we die. With every breath, we are a living testimony of Christ and even on our deathbed, we can make a difference in someone's life. Next time you think about condemning a person or you think that you cannot forgive someone, think of this verse which is found just a few paragraphs down on the page in verse 29. It states, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." This verse was very beneficial to me as I played baseball because I always wanted to jump on people when they screwed up, but at the same time there is a way to go about doing it so that they will listen and learn from mistakes. Encourage fellow Christians and let us start making changes in the world TODAY!
Hope you all have an amazing night, my phone will be on all night, please call me if you have any questions or just want to talk to someone. Comment box is also open.
Joseph Robinson
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