PONDER THIS

Wherever you are in life, you have to ask yourself this question: Where do I need to grow? A wise man once said, “When your professional life outpaces your personal life, you will have stress, and you will bring stress to other people.”

If I want this church to continue to grow, I must continue to grow. I can’t pull over and park. Prosperity and success are not the best: true prosperity is giving my best; it’s giving your best. So, I need to enforce my character. This means I must pay the price.

When God the Father wants to use me to win souls for the Lord Jesus Christ, do you think He tells me to do something and doesn’t give me the time or giftedness to do it? No. But God the Father has given every one of us spiritual gifts. And these gifts are tools, not toys. Everything God has given us is to be used for the glory of God the Father, and we must be willing to release our hold on these gifts; they’re not for us. He determines our growth, but we are all called to grow. This is the way it works: we seek God and use the gifts He’s given us, and He provides the growth!

• What are some areas of your faith life that you want to grow?
• Who is an example to you of someone who is always growing in his or her faith?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk to a person you admire and ask about the practices that help that person grow in faith.