Many have tried to muster up the effort to work for Christ in order to prove their usefulness to Him.
They believe that their identity as Christians is forged and sharpened through their great efforts to accomplish “godly” goals. I used to believe that too. I was wrong.
They believe that their identity as Christians is forged and sharpened through their great efforts to accomplish “godly” goals. I used to believe that too. I was wrong.
I have since learned that “it is God who works in [us] to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Phil 2:13). It was never supposed to be “we who work for God.” Learning that was a great relief to me. Though I admit for a time I wrestled with the question: “If God does all the work, where do we fit in?” Thanks be to God, I’ve come to a growing realization that when He works through His children to accomplish His goals, it doesn’t mean we lose our individuality in the process.
By way of illustration, somewhere in my garage I have a drill, a circular saw, and a sander (probably not, but pretend I do). Although these tools are designed for different purposes (a drill makes a lousy saw, yes?), each one, if it is to work properly, must plug into the same power source—the electrical outlet. When that happens, far from the electricity subsuming the functions of these tools, it instead brings each function to life. You see where I’m going.
Through the power source for our lives—Christ in us—we don’t lose our unique identities (the foot is not meant to be a hand; 1 Cor 12:15), rather those identities are finally revealed, manifested through our thoughts and actions.
One can press an analogy too far. So I will end this here, after drilling home (it had to be said!) the overarching point: Every child of God is specially designed to accomplish a great purpose, and is all but useless when not plugged in.
I hope this encourages you to plug into Christ today.
-Kevin Murray
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