Graceful Truth

How do you see yourself? A mature man has come to the humble knowledge that he is nothing without Christ and everything with Christ. He is a mere branch on a glorious Vine, but he has been fearfully and wonderfully and uniquely made by the Creator, designed for great achievements by God’s grace. This wise balance allows him to live powerfully, but dependently in life.

We spend our lives trying to gain certain things and are full of joy when we get them. Our first car, our first job, our first home. Reputation and prestige and influence. The list is long. But, is it possible to have all those things and not have the most important thing?  Here’s what the Apostle Paul said:

If you are a true believer, God has given you a spiritual gift(s) at the moment of your salvation. A spiritual gift is a "God-given, supernatural ability for service." It is different from a natural talent, but talents can be the vehicle through which some gifts operate at times. Spiritual gifts are designed by God to shape and empower our role in the Kingdom of God.

Father, thank You for saving me from a life and eternity without You. Remind me daily of the depth of this grace and the height of Your mercy towards me. Thank You for those who shared the truth of the gospel with me that led to my salvation. Compel me now to pass to others what has been entrusted to me.

Deliver me from fruitless self-centeredness. Lift my gaze outward. Help me see people not as objects, but as those You love with complete and absolute compassion; as those that only one message and one Savior can heal. Fill me with hourly urgency and grant me the clarity and boldness to speak the word of God without fear. Let me do "all things—ALL things—for the sake of the gospel." Open my mouth in gospel witness and my heart in gospel love.