Becoming a Christian brings us freedom to grow into Christlikeness. Before we accepted Jesus as our Saviour and Lord, our attempts at goodness were constantly stymied by our sinful nature-that is, given a good choice and a bad choice, we generally chose the bad choice, despite sometimes knowing clearly that it was bad! Paul reverts to the image of dressing: in the morning, you will generally dress yourself in clothes which make you look nice if you know you will be meeting other people. Paul urges his readers to clothe themselves in Christlike behaviour and character: kindness, humility, patience, gentleness, tender-hearted mercy, a forgiving spirit and most of all ,love. Some of those clothes may be harder to put on than others; many of us find patience difficult. We should actively seek to bless others, to recognise that when we meet as a Christian fellowship, we are all pointing in the same direction. Yes there may be discussion about slightly varying points of view, but we are not to be in opposition to each other, because we are all seeking to know God more and to become more like Jesus. Teach each other, support each other (and I've heard so many stories about you doing that in Bearfield!), sing to God with THANKFUL hearts-let that singing come from a heart of gratitude. Constantly seek to grow so that Jesus Christ become more and more your all-in-all. We can never reach the end of that goal. Just as Jesus became perfect-complete-through what He suffered (Hebrews 2 v 10 NIV), even though He was always perfect, so we are seeking to be complete, to experience absolute fulfilment through the love of Jesus, above all else. May God bless you on your journey today!
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See AllThe reader is reminded afresh in these few verses that Paul cared nothing about himself or his reputation, but wholly sought God's glory and the growth of His Kingdom. He also had a great heart of lov
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Paul again has to resort to irony in his exasperation at the accusations of some of the Corinthian believers. It is as if they were searching minutely for anything they could hold up against him and
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As so often happens, when someone is pushed back by unfair questions and accusations, their response is to tell their story: they may come out with reasons as to how things are or their life story o
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