Hi Ladies,
Wasn’t it great to be back in Proverbs, and James for those of you in our summer study? Words, words, everywhere!
But I keep being confronted with something significant. It’s not all about words. Maybe you already know this, but it’s easy to overlook. At least it has been for me. What do I mean?
Picture this: a brand new car - shiny, sleek, clean, and fast. At least, potentially. Problem is, the fuel line is broken. This picturesque car is powerless to do what it was designed to do. It must have its needed fuel.
Similarly, God has designed us - crafted us as His image-bearers - to speak words of life, of truth, of love. But we are powerless to do so without the Spirit’s “fuel.”
How do we make sure this fuel is flowing? The Bible tells us that if anyone is in Christ, he is “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). We have His Spirit from the moment we believe (1 Cor. 12:13, Rom. 8:9, Eph. 1:13-14). And yet, we all know that life-giving words don’t naturally spill out every time we’re bumped! So, what’s missing?
Rather than something “missing,” I think it’s more accurate to think of it as what some have called spiritual amnesia. We forget who we are in Christ. Our "fuel line" is clogged. And so we stop working to become practically who God has already made us positionally. Sanctification takes work! It’s fueled by the Spirit, but it requires our submission and our obedience. Let me show you this from Col. 3:12-16:
“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom…”
I want to highlight two things from this passage:
First, notice who Paul is addressing: “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.... Forgiven.... Called.” Positionally, they’re His - called and forgiven - they’re holy, and they are fully loved. But Paul doesn’t stop there. This position necessitates “putting on” characteristics that mark God's people. In other words, they - and we - are called to live out practically who He has created us to be positionally (in Him).
Second, notice the focus on character. Read through it again. The first 10 characteristics are all about our hearts! Only when we get to verse 16 do we read anything about words. And first, we let His Word dwell in us. Then, and only then, after all this putting on and “being” (abiding!) does Paul address our words: “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.”
Ladies, this is so significant! Our words are the overflow of our hearts. This is why Paul focuses so much on who we are to be before what we are to speak.
Words are critical. But if we don’t begin with our hearts - if we don’t have Spirit-fuel flowing to the engine - we will not run as God designed us to.
And the glorious news is that we have all we need in Christ - His Spirit’s power in us - to be rightly fueled! So don’t resist the hard work. Be grateful for His power, and His patience, and His forgiveness when we fail and get clogged and have to repent and try again, and again.
And praise Him for a Body to spur one another on in this! Let’s pray for one another and encourage one another this week not to forget who we are and what we have in Christ by the Spirit. And let's not resist the Spirit's work (even when hard!) to increasingly conform our hearts to Christ's so that we overflow with His words - words of life, of truth, of love. ❤️🙏🏼
Anna
No comments:
Post a Comment