15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
~ Do you find yourself jealous of others spiritual gifts or seeking self advancement through ministry? How might this be holding you back from embracing and realizing the gift and plan God has for you?
~ How might God use you today to share His love with those around you? Will you ask Him for opportunities and the boldness to follow through?
Good morning! This one was kind of hard for me because I hate to admit that I'm jealous sometimes. This would be an area I would rather deny exists but the truth is it does. As I thought about it I realized that for me jealousy usually stems out of my pride. It causes me to compare myself with others and for me to not be happy with what I have. It kind of makes me think of the wicked stepmother in Snow White. She wanted to be the most beautiful and her pride caused her to look to others to tell her she was beautiful and to compare herself with those around her. Why did she need someone else to tell her she was beautiful and why did it matter that she was the most beautiful? I guess I realize that it's really hard for me to embrace myself when I'm wanting somebody else's gifts. Even though I wouldn't consider this a huge problem in my life I think answering these questions this morning has showed me how it's coming between me and God and some of my relationships. My prayer is that God will identify pride in my life moment by moment and help me take these jealous thoughts captive to Christ and replace them with truth:)
ReplyDeleteFor me it was more envy than jealousy. I felt like my spiritual gifts weren't as high in rank as others, therefore, I wasn't doing "important" work.
ReplyDeleteAmazingly, when I surrendered this selfishness to God, a light was shining bright onto my gifts and I was able to see how they were bringing glory to God and building His kingdom.
I'm a little bit behind on the blog, however, I was listening to Joyce Meyer day before yesterday and I think what she said applies perfectly to this message:
ReplyDelete"We think how I can use my faith to get what I want. How can I get, how can I get, how can I get. How can I get my ministry to grow, I , I , I, me, me, me. God gave us faith but he doesn’t want us to use it just to get everything we want. He wants to work in our lives to heal us and make us whole, but he wants us to go out and help people and bring to them what he has brought to us."