1 Corinthians 4:7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

This is a beautifully pithy needle to prick the bubble of the proud! And it’s one that I have needed for myself more times than I’m happy to admit. What we do with what we’ve been given is our responsibility and our gift to God, but every bit of the raw materials of whatever accomplishments we might have comes from God, through one channel or another, and forgetting that puts us in a very foolish and precarious place. Our existence itself, not to mention every breath we take, is a gift from God. The better we understand that, not in resentment but in deep gratefulness, the better off, and the happier and more satisfied, we will be. History is filled with “self made men” who died terribly empty, because they failed to recognize and acknowledge the Source of all they had. Recognizing our dependence on God is pivotal for salvation, because it teaches us our accountability to Him. Anyone with the courage to be honest will admit that they have violated their own conscience at times. When that is combined with an understanding of the purity, the holiness, of the One who created us, then it brings conviction of sin and a hunger for the grace of God. Our problem is that we compare ourselves with other people, and we can always think of someone who is “worse” than we are. That’s no excuse! We don’t want to admit that the best merely human person who ever lived is still a sinner in need of God’s salvation by grace through faith.

This is of course what I struggle against every day in seeking to bring people to salvation. If I’m going to be effective in that, I’ve got to remember it myself! I have walked in more kinds of pride than I could count, and none of them ever did me any good. The longer I live the more aware I am of the frailty of mankind. My evangelism needs to be motivated by the awareness that neither I nor the person I’m talking to has any guarantee of being around tomorrow, along with the fact that both physical and spiritual life are gifts from God. I have the amazing privilege of offering people God’s free gift of spiritual, eternal life, and I must take full advantage of it. With that, I am also charged with helping the believers understand that they have the same privilege, so that they too may take full advantage of it, for the salvation of many.

Father, I continue to be sharply aware of the fact that You are working in each member of this church. May we all receive Your gifts with joy, even when they are uncomfortable at the moment, so that we may be open channels for Your grace to flow through to all those around us, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!