2:8 - Remember to never look down on other ministries because they are different or reach out to different people. God does not show favor - His hand is with those whose interest is spreading His Gospel...we just need to make sure that is where we fall.
2:10 - The poor are never far from Paul's mind...I think most of the time I try to put the poor out of my mind, because when you think about the poor and when you feel empathy towards the plight of the poor - you have to do something. If I refuse to think about it, I don't have to do anything. We are told that the poor will always be with us, and that does not give us an excuse to do nothing because they'll always be around...it gives us confirmation that there will always be someone for Christians to help - there will always be something for us to do!
2:12ff - There is always this extreme temptation as church members to look perfect...to act like you think others think you should act. To put on your church mask and pretend like everything in your life is just as it should be. We sometimes act as if we don't really need Jesus...as if we are blessing Him by showing up to worship Him. What Jesus wants is real followers who are willing to live real, uncensored life around one another...that is true community.
2:14 - Practice what you preach, or don't preach it!
2:17ff - If we are trying to follow Jesus and we continue to sin - is it Jesus fault? Heck no! Our sin is still ours, but because we have died to the law, even in our sin we can be justified through the grace of Jesus Christ.
2:23 - Your sin does not have the power to overcome the grace of God. You cannot sin too big to make Jesus' sacrifice meaningless. On the flip side...your life lived as perfect as you can possibly live it is still not good enough to save you. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can save you. Rejoice in the awesome love and grace of our God.
1 comment:
It's such a gruesome thing to look at sin from both angles. Angle one: you should do your best to avoid it. Angle two: no matter what you do, God's grace is bigger. The thing about this is that you have to live by both angles. Living by angle one shows people God's work through you. Angle two shows people God's work in you. A lot of times we try to pick one or the other. We need to live by both!
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