Good morning. Now a
statement that can either be considered glorious or ominous: The end of all
things is at hand. So what should we do – run and hide? Therefore, be of sound
judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Well if you know the end
is at hand, shouldn't you be praying, and not for yourselves – it should be to
bring others to Christ. Keep fervent in your love for one another, because love
covers a multitude of sins. That does not mean that it excuses those sins. Be
hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special
gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace
of God. Of course you may think that you have not received a special gift - in
actuality you just haven't discovered it yet. Whoever speaks, let him speak, as
it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so by the strength
which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus
Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. When we
speak to others, it should be as if God were speaking to them. Would God say
what we say – probably not. He would want to lead them to Christ, not chase
them away. When we serve others, it is not to bring glory to ourselves but to
God. Father thank You that the reader speaks Your words to bring others to
Christ. He/she serves others to bring glory to You.
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
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