Believers have two main responsibilities—to love God and to love people (Matt. 22:37-40). This is often done by serving. Where and how we serve is based upon our unique talents, skills, and calling, but the one place where we’re all expected to give of ourselves is the local church.
When you trusted Jesus as Savior, the Lord baptized you by the Holy Spirit into His church—the body of believers living all over the world but united by faith in Jesus Christ. You then chose, according to the will of God, to become part of a local, autonomous group of believers. He placed you there because He knows that you are needed (1 Cor. 12:18). You are significant to your home church.
The church is more than a community. It’s an interdependent body with individual members created by God to function in communion with one another. We Christians, like the world at large, are a diverse group of people, and we have to strive hard for unity. But our differences are actually something to be celebrated—each person uniquely contributes to God’s purpose. A church truly operating as a unit, with all its varied gifts, talents, personalities, and intellects focused toward kingdom goals, must be a beautiful sight to the Lord.
Christianity is not a spectator religion. We all have jobs to do in God’s kingdom. The body of Christ functions most beautifully when all members resolve to serve God and each other to the best of their abilities (1 Cor. 12:25). What are you doing for your church?
Corinth was a city characterized by sexual immorality and many other forms of ungodliness. (See 1 Cor. 6:9-11.) Believers there had once been like their fellow citizens—filled with greed, envy, wickedness, deceit, anger, and malice. But now they were new creations in Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit and adopted into the family of God. The Corinthian lifestyle no longer matched who they’d become in Jesus.
In that passage from 1 Corinthians, Paul reminded the believers not to be influenced by their culture or old patterns of thinking. The apostle was not warning them that they might miss out on the kingdom. Instead, he was encouraging them to abandon their old ways and bring their behavior in line with who they really were—children of God.
We, too, should know salvation is permanent and faith should positively affect conduct. What’s more, understanding the basis for our salvation—Jesus’ finished work on the cross—banishes fear and fills us with hope.
We could never earn our way into God’s family, nor could we pay our own sin debt. But our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ willingly paid the penalty on our behalf, satisfying divine justice and the Law’s demands (Rom. 3:25-26). To show the sacrifice was accepted, God raised Jesus to life and brought Him to heaven, where He reigns at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19).
What God has accomplished—pardoning our sins, giving us a new nature, and adopting us into His family—no one can undo. That gives us a living hope to sustain and uplift us all our days.
People have different opinions about who goes to heaven. Some believe ethical behavior and moral character bring automatic acceptance from God. Others, while acknowledging they have bad habits and behaviors, claim a self-improvement plan gains them admission. Still others assume they’ll be disqualified from heaven because of deep hurts they caused.
None of this lines up with the truth of the Bible. Scripture tells us that character and deeds do not determine our eternal state (Eph. 2:8-9). Rather, the barrier between us and a holy God is our sinful nature. Romans 5:12 teaches that Adam and Eve’s sin caused all mankind to begin physical life dead to spiritual things and under a sentence of judgment. No amount of good works or moral behavior can change our unholy nature. Nor do bad choices make our nature worse.
Without direct help from the heavenly Father, we’d be a people without hope—we would find the entrance to heaven closed and face everlasting separation from God. But our loving Father had a plan to deal with our corrupt nature so we could live with Him for eternity. He sent His Son Jesus Christ as our willing substitute: Jesus took our sins on Himself and received the punishment we deserved. What we were helpless to do, He accomplished for us. Through faith in Him, we have assurance that we will live in the presence of God forever.
Knowing we’re heaven bound gives hope and meaning to our lives. Let’s tell others about Jesus, the source of our hope.
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Do you ever wonder why you exist? Day-to-day activities and worries pull us in so many directions that most of us seldom think about the goal of life. But our Creator made us with a purpose: to glorify Him (Isa. 43:7).
In His Word, God is emphatic that we are to testify to His faithfulness and His mighty works. Jesus Christ considered this important as well—when teaching His disciples how to communicate with God, He began His well-known prayer with adoration of His Father (Matt. 6:9).
Why, then, do we tend to give so much attention to our petitions but so little to praising God? Perhaps some believers consider themselves too time-constrained to spend “extra” prayer time praising the Lord. Others may feel awkward expressing their gratitude to Him. Yet no excuses are acceptable. Psalm 103:2 tells us to remember God’s benefits so we will humbly glorify Him. This psalm also explains how to lift the Father up with our words—specifically, we should praise God for His character and for His work in the past, present, and future (Ps. 103:2-8, Ps. 103:19).
The Old Testament’s primary words for “praise” refer to spoken words, music, and gestures like raising hands and dancing. But we can also glorify Him in other ways, such as through actions, thoughts, and creativity.
Praise may be something foreign to you. But it’s the very purpose for which you were created. Observe how the Father is exalted in the Psalms and throughout the Bible. Then worship Him with praise as you spend time basking in His presence today.
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Have you ever visited a cemetery and seen a gravestone with a poignant epitaph of the person buried there? It’s not uncommon to see descriptions like “Devoted Mother” or “Beloved Friend” on these markers. In the distant future, what would you want someone to read etched on your tombstone? What epitaph would summarize the best part of your life?
In the book of Acts, we discover how history remembered mighty King David. In a sermon to a primarily Jewish group, the apostle Paul referred to David, who was well known to the audience. Remembering all of the king’s great accomplishments during his reign, how did Paul choose to describe him? He declared that David was the one person whom God called “a man after His own heart.” (See Acts 13:22; 1 Samuel 13:14.)
What does it mean to be a person after God’s own heart? For David, it required an intimate relationship with his Father (Ps. 63:1, Ps. 6-8). This entails much more than simply a regular routine of rote prayers and church attendance. Rather, such intimacy is founded upon an intense yearning to grow as close to the loving Father as possible (Ps. 42:1).
What would it take for you to be described as a man or woman after God’s own heart? What activities, thoughts, or behaviors would need to be removed from your life? What would need to be added? Ask God for His help in making these adjustments—and for the commitment to make this epitaph the goal of your life.
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