Episode 1062: Start With Love

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1062 of the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:07] Brad Miller: Hello, my friend, this is Dr. Brad Miller from the pathway to promise podcast. If you'd like to stay inspired, to stay on your pathway to promise you can't do better than listening to the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott.

[00:00:28] Scott Maderer: God hasn't given up on us, no matter where we are in our journey. Why then should we give up on ourselves? Why do we think we have to have got it. All right. And got it all together. Whenever it's an ongoing relationship. It's an ongoing journey it's on through perfection. Welcome and thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:56] If you truly desire to become the person who God [00:01:00] wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling and the inspired stewardship podcast. We'll learn to invest in yourself. Invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world

[00:01:18] And today's spiritual foundation episode about investing in others. I talked about first Corinthians chapter 15, verses one through 11. I talk about why this is an invitation to go back to. And I also share why this is important to us today. First Corinthians chapter 15, verses one through 11, goes like.

[00:01:40] Now I would remind you brothers and sisters of the good news that I proclaim to you, which you in turn received in which also you stand through, which also you are being saved. If you hold firmly to the message that I proclaim to you, unless you have come to believe in vain for I handed onto you as a [00:02:00] first importance.

[00:02:00] What I in turn had received that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures and that he was. That he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures and that he appeared to safest. And then the 12, then he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at one time. Most of whom are still alive though.

[00:02:22] Then he appeared to James then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me for, I am the least of the apostles unfit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace towards me has not been in. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them though.

[00:02:45] It was not I, but the grace of God, that is with me, whether then it was I, or they, so we proclaim. And so you have come to believe. Yeah. This passage in Corinthians comes shortly after the [00:03:00] famous love passage in Corinthians, the one that's read and so many weddings about how love is the greatest of all things.

[00:03:09] And I would say. This is an example of a Paulien passage that echoes back to that moment in a strange way. It echoes back to the beginning of our relationship. Now, the truth is whenever your relationship is struggling, it's often helpful to go back and remember where it started to think about the emotions and the thoughts and the decisions and those things that came from the.

[00:03:39] And in fact the church here that Paul is writing to, there's a claim being made or a complaint being made that perhaps they've forgotten what brought them together in the first place there, their first love with each other. And this Corinthians letter is an [00:04:00] invitation for folks to go back and reclaim that beginning to go back to what started their relationship.

[00:04:08] And think about it. Where does this passage start with remembering the good news, remembering the proclamation, remembering what Jesus was and what he had done for us to turn the eyes back to Jesus as the way of re beginning and re remembering the relationship and the love that we've had. In times of strife in times of division when arguments are going on.

[00:04:40] And there's a lot of stress and strain that is the most important time to turn our eyes back to Jesus. It's always important, but it's even more important then to go back and remember the story of the life and the death and the resurrection that Paul [00:05:00] tells at the beginning. And notice too, that Paul says that it will still work in you.

[00:05:06] It, Paul says, this is you receive this, you stand in this, but also in this story, the story is acting on you as well. You are an active participant in the salvation story. The truth is if you think you know it all and you think you're better than everyone else, you're still in process and being made.

[00:05:31] And if you're struggling with believing that you're even at all worth anything, keep in mind that you are still a process and being made God hasn't given up on us, no matter where we are in our journey. Why then should we give up on ourselves? Why do we think we have to have got it? All right. And got it all together.

[00:05:55] Whenever. It's an ongoing relationship. It's an ongoing [00:06:00] journey. It's on to perfection. Not I've already arrived at perfect. And then Paul being Paul, he timed of tells his own story. And the truth is he says I didn't deserve this. I was a bad person and yet it arrived and it chose me. I was saved by grace.

[00:06:24] Not as a free pass, not as an easy ticket. In fact, he even calls out I worked harder than any of them. That's a typical Paul phrase where Paul does what we call the humble brag, where he says I did it more than anyone else, or I did it harder or better than anyone else. And he compares himself to this sort of unspoken them, but probably talking about other leaders in the church.

[00:06:50] And he says, I wasn't me. It was God's grace that saved me. No, Paul, isn't really doing the top down model of [00:07:00] authority. He's not saying, listen to me because I know better than you. He's not saying listen to me because I've got it all together. In fact, he's saying I didn't deserve this. I'm the least of the apostles.

[00:07:11] I'm the one that stumbled around and made mistakes. And yet I've worked hard at it. And that's where I've gotten where I am not because of anything I've done, but because of what Christ has done in me, He says, hold firm to the faith in Christ and face the fact that we want unity, not uniformity, but unity within the church.

[00:07:36] And that fundamental relationship can hold us together. He says, hold Fe from to the good news and recognize that we can grow in our faith. That is the core that we can be in process. We can get better in what we're doing, that this good news of the death and [00:08:00] resurrection of Christ doesn't change, but how we relate to it and understand it does our experience of it does.

[00:08:08] And that's what changes and grows and pushes the boundaries of our faith. And means that we're continuing to be able to hold firm in the Christ that we've heard of and yet continue to be together and love. Thanks for listening.

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