For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Romans 12:3-5, The New International Version
Yesterday we saw that most people who experience the grace of transformation in their lives have seasons when pride slips in. However, there is another side of transformation that may occur. While the Holy Spirit is busy working on our lives, we look in the mirror and wonder if we have changed at all. Instead of pride, we experience disappointment with our progress.
These are both parts of our discipleship. We can neither look at the good in our life and forget God's grace or look at the lack of good in our lives and forget God's grace. The antidote for measuring our progress or lack thereof is the Lord's distribution of faith. Let me explain.
When our spiritual life is moving forward, we are pleased with the progress, but when we find ourselves in a desert, up against a wall, or shackled to an old sin or habit, we can lose hope. It is during those times that the Holy Spirit reminds us that He has given us an impartation of faith. This ability to see beyond our failures, faults, and sins and place our trust in God is a gift He gives each of us.
Now we might think that we don't have much faith. To that, He reminds us that all we need is a seed to move a mountain or move ourselves back into the arms of Jesus.
As we evaluate our lives, let's thank the Lord for His victories, and trust Him in our defeats. We know that we can trust Him to bring us through completely. "For He who began a good work in you will complete it." (Philippians 1:6)
Here are our action plans today:
Read through these verses a few times. See how the Holy Spirit may speak to you through them today.
Practice exercising your gift of faith, by choosing a difficult spot in your life and praying to the Lord about it.
Let's pray together for the children and young adults in our lives. Let's pray they connect with Jesus by faith and see His heart for them.
Have a great day!
Love, Pastor Stuart