Responsible Conduct

Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
Galatians 6:4-5 NLT

The Apostle Paul repeatedly emphasizes that salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone. There are no works - seen or unseen - that will earn us a place in Heaven. However, Paul is also clear that certain responsibilities are pertinent to living a Christian life. Here are some he has defined for us.

1 Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.

2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

4 Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

6 Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.

7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.

8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.  Galatians 6:1-10 NLT

Prayer:

Father,

           Thank You for Your Word to teach us how to live before You in Spirit and in Truth. Teach us Your decrees, Father. Help us to hide Your Word in our hearts so that we don't sin against You. Help us to never forget Your Word. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Through the Bible in a Year
Reading for January 21st
Genesis 42:18-43:34
Matthew 13:47-14:12
Psalm 18:16-36
Proverbs 4:7-10

Friends' Favorites - Entrusted to Our Care

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.
Psalm 24:1 NLT

If everything belongs to God, that makes us His stewards. Merriam-Webster defines stewardship as the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.

Have you ever truly thought about it? What are the greatest matters entrusted to your care? The people within your sphere of influence? Family, friends, co-workers? People who serve you in some capacity on a regular basis? What else? What about the talent He's given us?

The most obvious to me personally are my children and my grandchildren. Have I always managed carefully and responsibly? I shudder to think of the mistakes I've made.

Deuteronomy 6: 6-7 instructs us to ...commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. It doesn't say when it's convenient, or when your favorite show is over, or only on Sunday.

Everything looks different through the perspective of "It's all God's" and with the question of what we have done with it.

Prayer:

Father,
           Give us an eternal, Kingdom perspective, along with the knowledge and wisdom to manage carefully and responsibly everything You have entrusted to our care. Teach us so we may better understand that You require a return on everything You have given us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen