Philippians 2:12-13We are working more and more at having our children, now growing into young adults, to become more self-sufficient and productive in their daily lives. Whenever we leave the house and there are things to be done we leave a “to do” list for our kids, a list of those tasks that we expect them to accomplish while we are away, something to be done without our involvement or nagging.
What a delight it is to come home and find that our kids have checked through their lists and accomplished things.
The same is true of each one of us in our faith. God has given us commandments in the Bible. Christ came to earth and taught us lessons and provided us with an example to follow. Now it is up to us to build our Christian life, to move through our journey of faith, on our own.
Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi addresses the need for the believers to grow in their faith. What does he say about their obedience in faith? What should they do about heir own salvation? How is this work accomplished?
If we are Christians then we have accepted the life, teaching and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Our salvation is sure. We are promised everlasting life in the kingdom of God.
But we can’t stop there. Just because Jesus is not present with us in bodily form to push us deeper in our faith, just because the early leaders of the church are no longer with us, we can’t stop with the secure knowledge of our salvation.
We have the faith. Now we must add goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance and godliness. (2 Peter 1:5-6) When we build on these qualities we grow closer and closer to being the perfect children of god we are called to be.
We can take courage that it is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, who works within us to help us grow in holiness and goodness. Through the working of God we can move toward being great Christians with stronger and more effective faith.
DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you remember that God is working in you to grow your faith?
No comments:
Post a Comment