A Young Man’s Battle, Strength
You like to be known for your strength
(Prov. 20:29, check it out). As a result, you have some battle choices to make. You
will either build up your pride or deny yourself and submit to your Master,
Jesus. You can either use your physical strength and talents to serve others
like Christ would or you can hold them in reserve for opportunities when others
will praise you for them.
A Different Take:
You need
to examine
yourself to see what your motive is for using your strength. If you are
using your strength just to get praise or showing off, the motive (or spirit) is wrong. If you use your strength to simply help
others, serve God, and earn a living then your motive is right. Think about the
following passage and listen to your Teacher, the Holy Spirit, as you read it.
“Ye have heard that it
was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto
you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart.” Matthew 5:27-28 KJV
What
we see here is that since the motive was wrong, the person was guilty of sin.
He didn’t have to do anything, just lustfully
think, dwell, meditate, fantasize, desire it. What have you been guilty of
sinning about when you didn’t do
anything?
Not only
do you need to be cautious of how you use your strength, but your motive. Is your motive prideful or humble and
submissive to the Master? Also, I want to clarify something: I am not
giving you a self-centered building plan here for your Christian life. What I
am writing will be of no use to you if you just apply it without the Holy
Spirit’s blessing and help. To follow the Lord truly, you must live a life
guided by the Spirit, not just memorizing Scripture and putting it into
practice in your own mental or physical strength. Doing that can be prideful,
not humble! WE CANNOT USE THE BIBLE AS A SELF-HELP MANUAL, BUT AS A LIFE
MANUAL; AND WE MUST HAVE A LIVING RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST (KNOWING HIM) TO
MAKE IT TO HEAVEN. SALVATION IS A GIFT, BUT WE MUST RETAIN IT.
Your
notes on the subject:
