Oluwamuyiwa Okuseinde
“Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily” (Colossians 1:29).
We become Christians by simply accepting and confessing Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. But growing in the faith will not just happen. You have to work on yourself and work things out by the help of the Holy Spirit.
There are things to believe, but there are also things to do. Jesus won’t read your Bible for you, neither would your pastor be the one to resist sin on your behalf. These are works you must do by yourself to work out your salvation (Philippians 2:12). Although Paul acknowledged the role of grace and mercy in his development as a Christian, he also emphasized how much of personal labour and diligence he had to put in to become what God called him to be.
The question is, how much conscious efforts have you put into your personal spiritual development? What is the level of your investment toward knowing the Lord? How much time, money and other resources have you expended to ensure that you grow in faith and develop spiritually? How much sacrifices have you put in and are prepared to continue putting in to keep you from violating God’s commands?
Ultimately, your responses to these questions will determine your level and rate of spiritual development. Your capacity to fulfil destiny also hangs on these things. But if you will not give attention to your spiritual development and pay the necessary price, you will never become all that God has ordained you to be. As our passage for further reading indicates, the responsibility to add to your faith is yours, not God’s or your pastor’s.
Paying diligent attention to your spiritual growth is commanded for the serious believer. May the Lord help us never to leave undone those things we ought to do.
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FURTHER BIBLE READING: 2 PETER 1:1-11.
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EXERCISES
- What new insight have you gained from the above message? Please write it down in your journal.
- What would be your prayer points and what are the steps you will take?
- If you have been blessed by this message, please share it with your friends and loved ones.
TODAY’S MESSAGE
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