Memorize: Joy in using gifts
Key Verses: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 21
This is a chapter full of examples of how a Jesus-follower will act. It is not a new Ten Commandments, a list that we must do in order to gain God’s favor. We have God’s favor because of God’s grace poured out on us because of grace. It is out of that new grace stance that we now live. This new stance involves total surrender: surrender of self and surrender to others.
We are now to follow a different pattern than the one we followed before. We used to ‘go along with the crowd.’ Even when someone was trying to be unique, they were not. When we do this our life is productive. We know how to please God and our life is a life of worship. As we yield, our thinking gets changed. When our thinking gets changed then our actions follow. We are able to put more things into proper perspective.
God’s grace pours in and through us in specific ways, ways that are governed by the various gifts God gives us. Specially shaped grace for specially shaped ministry. That is what God wants to do. There are no cookie-cutter ministries. God shapes us, pours His grace into and through us, and then His work gets accomplished.
There is no faking love. If we truly love our lives will be transformed. We won’t be the same. We will look like Jesus in that He loved to the full extents. When we follow His example, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we will look like this chapter. His grace will flow into us, changing us, and through us, changing others. Love will be seen in action. This can be very hard when persecution comes. Persecution has the tendency to push us. Some are pushed closer to the Lord, and some turn and run from the Lord. Our attitude makes the difference.
The last verse of the chapter speaks about a new way to overcome evil. By doing good we can overcome evil. When we are obedient and do what is right, evil is overcome in our lives. Others then see those right actions and are drawn in to the Spirit who works in us in our time of difficulty. They learn that we are not going to deny our Lord.
The Arnold Journey 