None of us lives to himself… —Romans 14:7
{CHAMBERS} ““You shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8). How many of us are willing to spend every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus Christ? That is what God means when He uses the word witness. But it takes time, so be patient with yourself. Why has God left us on the earth? Is it simply to be saved and sanctified? No, it is to be at work in service to Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured-out wine for Him? Am I willing to be of no value to this age or this life except for one purpose and one alone— to be used to disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life of service to God is the way I say “thank you” to Him for His inexpressibly wonderful salvation. Remember, it is quite possible for God to set any of us aside if we refuse to be of service to Him— “…lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).”
{ELGIN} It is incorrect thinking to believe that my sin .. particularly my internal sin .. those sins that are part of my thought life .. are of no consequence to others. Your spiritual condition influences how you live and love and do. Your spiritual condition influences you and so, influences others. Even though we want to believe otherwise. The Word says that even those things that are not sin should be avoided if they cause our brother to stumble in their faith walk. (Romans 14:13-23) If you are prone to think that you should be able to do what you want then you have a problem. That is contrary to the Word. Our flesh rises up against the Spirit. It is not unreasonable from the world’s perspective, but it is unacceptable from the Lord’s. You are the best Christian somebody knows. Knowing what only you know about yourself, can you honestly say that you want someone to be like you? I don’t want people to aspire to be like me. They have set their goal too low. I want them to aspire to be like Jesus. Do our lives reflect Him, inside and out? Only each of us can answer that. It’s not my reputation that pleases God, it’s my character.
(2 Peter 1:3-9) “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins."
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