The Gooch Lane church of Christ is a group of people in Madison, Alabama seeking to study the Bible and put God’s teachings into practice. We’d love to have you join us for Bible study and worship.
All in Selflessness
This wisdom Jesus gives means that I need to have a certain amount of humility about myself and my abilities
“And Cain said to the Lord, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear! Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me’” (Genesis 4:13-14). All who live in this world will have to deal with sorrow. It is inevitable. In an environment where sin is a reality, the temporal consequences of sin are unavoidable — and since sorrow is one of those consequences, we shall have to deal with it sooner or later. The only question is how we shall do so.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul talks about our relationship with Christ as one of transformation: “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (4:22-24). The apostle uses the imagery of clothing, putting off and putting on, to show the contrast of what we were before and what we should become after Christ has entered our lives. But it’s more than a fresh set of clothes we are putting on, but an entire self, a renewed spirit of mind, a self made in the likeness of God.
Generosity is a quality that is not achieved by accident; it requires the desire to put others first, the humility to seek no praise, and the strength to give away what could be personally enjoyed. Whether it is money or time, generous people give freely and seek nothing in return.
The people of God are troubled by the rapid downward spiral of morality. While there is a host of reasons for this decline, the overarching principle can be summed up in the word postmodernism. Briefly defined, postmodernism is the belief that there is no absolute truth; instead, each determines personal truth and lives by this personal standard.
A few years back, a rather non-subtle bumper sticker stated, “If you can read this, thank a teacher.” This pithy statement was a reminder that many of the skills we take for granted are owed to someone taking the time to help. This is certainly the case when it comes to our biblical training.
Service is serving--sometimes voluntarily, sometime involuntarily. In service one is enslaved to someone or something--sometimes voluntarily, sometimes involuntarily. Slavery is not all bad. For instance, Paul, inspired by the Spirit, said, “being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:18). One may be freed from one slavery, but he will inevitably be brought under the control of another slavery. The black people who were made free by The Emancipation Proclamation, were not free to do as they pleased. They ceased being mere chattel for their masters; but they were brought under the laws of the land. If one is free from righteousness, he is the slave of sin; if he is freed from sin, he becomes the servant of God. Everyone serves someone.
Loneliness is a terrible feeling that is easily exacerbated by difficulties or losses. Few of us could honestly say that we have never experienced this feeling, even though we have many people around us. Loss of loved ones, disappointments with family members, and disputes with brethren are only a few situations that can bring us to join the prophet Elijah in saying, “I alone am left.” It is for this very reason that God has filled the pages of the Bible with both commands to encourage and examples of encouragers.
