How
many of you remember the story of the three little pigs? The three little pigs
left their mother to build their own houses. The first little pig built his
house of straw. The second little pig built his house of sticks. The third
little pig built his house of brick. Soon the Big Bad Wolf came to visit the
three little pigs. When the little pig in the straw house would not let him in,
the Big Bad Wolf huffed and puffed until he blew the house down. The same thing
happened with the little pig who built his house of wood. When the Big Bad Wolf
came to the little pig in the house of brick, he huffed and puffed, but he
could not blow the house down.
The
apostle Paul exhorts us to build our lives on a solid foundation-Jesus Christ. We
build on a foundation that others have laid. We have to carefully build on that
foundation. Those who help us might not have the same skills. They might not
have the stable, strong faith that we have. We must build our faith wisely and
carefully so that we can minimize the flaws of our co-workers and maximize
their strengths. Not everyone is ready to receive the Good News at the same
point in time. Perhaps God has only called on us to plant a seed in a person’s
life or water a seed that someone else has planted. God will make the seed grow
in his own time and in his own way. He will be the foundation of their lives,
just like he is the foundation of our lives. That firm foundation will
withstand the tests that life will send our way.
Paul
gave the Corinthians spiritual milk, also known as an introduction to faith and
spiritual life. He gave them spiritual milk because they were not ready for
solid spiritual food, just like babies have to be fed milk before they can eat
solid food. The carnal, earthly nature of the Corinthians was their guide. They
should have been guided by the Holy Spirit, but their minds were occupied by
earthly thoughts and their emotions were plagued by negative thoughts. Carnal
people are not operating in the manner God created then to operate.
God
created us to operate as spiritual beings so that we could do his work in our
world. He created us as spiritual beings so that we can spread the Good News of
the Gospel. We must not let the world’s carnal nature influence us or stop us
from doing what God wants us to do. In order for us to do God’s work, we must
grow spiritually. God wants us to increase in faith to the point where we can
teach others, just like I am teaching all of you through this message. He wants
us to grow and persevere. God can use all of us.
Each
and every one of us faces the temptation of setting up our own egos as idols
for others to dance around. We face the temptation to put ourselves in the
spotlight and ask others to applaud. We are tempted to praise so that we will
get praise in return. We are tempted to love to get love in return. We are
tempted to serve to be served. We are tempted to believe that our own needs
excuse our behaviour.
When
God lives in us, we have a friend who will be with us in any situation. When
God lives in us, we have an internal guide and an internal comforter. When God
lives in us, we are never alone, and neither are those we love and serve.
We do not work for God to earn our salvation. God gives it to us for free if we accept Christ as our saviour by faith. We work for God because we are grateful for what God have given us. God uses us to reach people, but God is the one who saves them. God prepares a person’s heart to hear and receive the Gospel. He uses us, but he does the work of salvation.
So
how can we make the Good News known to other people? There are four steps.
1.
We need to stop
worrying about what other people think of us. We only have to worry about what
God thinks of us, and make certain our lives are pleasing and honouring him in
all we do.
2.
We need to
develop the mind of Christ, which we uniquely possess as his followers.
3. We need to believe that God intends to use our words and deed to bring others to a saving knowledge of Jesus.
4.
We must engage
people in conversations designed to lead them away from their worldly lives and
help them see that their way of life is robbing them of full and abundant
lives.
Even
though we are under the saving grace of God, what we do in our lives still
matters. The choices we make now will affect our eternal destiny. If we want to
spend eternity with Jesus, we must spend every moment of our lives doing God’s
work in our world. We need to cultivate a passion for God’s Word and cool our
passion for the things of the world. We do this within the characteristics of
faith, love, grace, mercy, forgiveness and kindness. We also do this by living
purposefully, pursuing excellence and working with all our hearts in the name
of Jesus and for his glory.
Because
God loves variety, and he wants us to be special, there’s no one single gift
given to everyone, and no individual receives all the gifts. If we had them
all, we would not need anyone else, and God wants to teach us to depend on each
other. Our spiritual gifts are to be used for the benefit of others, just like
the gifts of other people are for our benefit. When we use our gifts together,
all of us benefit. If others don’t use their gifts, we are cheated. If we don’t
use our gifts, others are cheated. Christ’s saving grace changes us. Sins are
wiped away. We will build on his foundation with good works when we rely on
God’s strengths and wisdom. They help us establish his kingdom by influencing
and involving people. Our roles are suited to how he has gifted us. We have to
change our lives to reflect His priorities. Reaching out and serving other
people in Jesus’ name does more for our spiritual growth than anything else.
Bibliography
2.
Dr. Neil
Anderson, “The Fleshly Person”. Retrieved from Neil_Andersons_Daily_in_Christ@crosswalkmail.com
14.
Rick
Warren, “Your Gifts are For Helping the Entire Church”. Retrieved from www.purposedriven.com
18.
King Duncan, “You are God’s Temple”. Retrieved from
www esermons.com
19.
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