A sound mind 2Tim 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound(sophroneo) mind. The Greek word sophroneo (discipline), has the literal meaning of a sound mind but also carries the idea of a self-controlled, disciplined and properly prioritized mind,.It describes a person who is sensibly minded and balanced, who has his life under control. God-given discipline allows believers to control every element of their lives, whether positive or negative. This is the opposite of fear and cowardice that causes disorder and confusion. Focusing on the sovereign nature and perfect purposes of our eternal God allows believers to control their lives with godly wisdom and confidence in every situation. It allows them to experience success without becoming proud and to suffer failure without becoming better or hopeless. The disciplined life is the divinely, ordered life in which godly wisdom is applied to every situation . When we live by the godly discipline that our gracious Lord supplies, our priorities are placed in the right order, And every aspect of our lives is devoted to advancing the cause of Christ. The great spiritual triumvirate of power,love, and discipline belong to every believer. They are not natural endowments. We are not born with them, and they cannot be learned in a classroom or developed from experience. They are not the result of heritage, or environment or instruction. But all believers possess these marvelous, God-given empowerments: power, to be effective in his service; love, to have the right attitude toward him and others; and discipline to focus and apply every part of our lives according to his will. Rom 12::1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. :2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God :3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly(sophroneo), according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith Service in the local body begins with personal dedication (v:1-2) and then an honest evaluation of the spiritual gifts the believer possesses (v:3). Paul does not tell us not to think of ourselves at all, but that we should not think of ourselves more highly than our spiritual gifts warrant. Our gifts differ, but they all come from the Spirit and are to be used for the glory of Christ Each Christian must know what his/her spiritual gifts are and what ministry (or ministries) he/she is to have in the local church. It is not wrong for a Christian to recognize gifts in his/her own life and in the lives of others. The gifts that we have came because of God’s grace. They must be accepted and exercised by faith. We were saved “by grace, through faith” (Eph. 2:8–9), and we must live and serve “by grace through faith.” Since our gifts are from God, we cannot take the credit for them. All we can do is accept them and use them to honor His name. When the individual believers in a church know their gifts, accept them by faith, and use them for God’s glory, then God can bless in a wonderful way.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 10:40:06 +0000
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