|
Part 2 |
|
|
|
BIBLE STUDIES (Newest ones are last) |
|
|---|---|
 |
Part 1: The Body of Christ |
|
You Aren't So Special |
|
|
| "For I say, through
the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according
as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Romans 12:3 |
| Well, at first I chose
verse two for the Bible study but realized we've studied that one a couple
of times already. We've also studied all the other verses up to verse
eight except for this one. So, let's tie it all together, shall we?
The chapter starts out saying we need to offer ourselves to God as a sacrifice. We don't have anything else that God needs or wants. He wants us. He has things He needs us to do so we must give Him what it takes... ourselves. Secondly, we must make sure we separate ourselves from the world. We must not get stuck in worldly ways of thinking or else our minds will be closed to the supernatural things of God. Our minds must be renewed on a regular basis. It is just too easy to slip back into the "normal" worldly mind-set. It is too easy to go along with the easy road and fit in with everyone else in the worldly mind-set. We have to transform (change) and renew (refresh) our minds. Now, our verse is the third admonition. This is probably the hardest one to do. We have to be careful not to think of ourselves as being too special. The hardest part about that is that we live inside of ourselves. We automatically tend to defend, protect, and promote our selves just because that's who we see in the mirror and that's who feels heartache and physical pain when we are hurt. Going back to the previous verse we are reminded that the world accepts it when we think highly of ourselves. Most other people in the world do the same. We are not to be the same. We are to be different. We are to be God-pleasers and not man-pleasers. We are peculiar people (Ti 2:14 and 1Pet 2:9) and need to do the naturally impossible (but not spiritually impossible) thing and get out of ourselves. As we continue on we see that these scriptures are teaching us how we are to act and be in order to be a functioning member of the Body of Christ. God has equipped us with the necessary talents and faith to do whatever it is that He has called us to do. We don't all have the same job to do so it is important that we follow these guidelines laid out for us. We must lay ourselves on the altar and then not keep taking ourselves back off the altar every time that someone insults us, takes advantage of us, or makes us feel inferior. We must renew our minds in the spiritual realm. We must allow God to work in our hearts and minds so we are prepared to do the things He gives us to do. Like verse four says not all members of the Body have the same office (job to be done). So, stay sensitive to what God shows you. Don't assume that, just because you are good at teaching, that He wants you to be a Sunday School teacher. Don't assume that, just because you have led a few people to the Lord, that you are to be a missionary or a television evangelist. There are many many many more jobs than we can see with our human eyes. There are jobs within the Body and outside the Body. There are many sub-jobs within jobs. There are many combinations of jobs. There are so many differences and details that God needs to be the One that does the assigning. The gifts (jobs) mentioned in the following verses are: prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, ruling, and showing mercy. In my concordance the meanings of those are:
In order to be fully used it is important that we demonstrate humility and meekness, just like Jesus did. We need to lay our "lovely" SELF on the altar and allow it to burn. We must resist the urge to blow out the flame to rescue a portion of our self, too. We must be empty of self to be full of God. |
| Bible Studies by Scripture |
| Bible Studies by Title |
|
|
|
|
||