"Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God."
Romans 1:1 (NKJV)
We all have various forms of identification. We might have a passport, a driver's license, a library card, or even a membership card to some store or organization. When you go to different places, you need a valid form of identification. For example, when I travel to different nations, I cannot show them my library card, which is not a valid form of identification outside of the library. Although I may really like my local library, my library card is not my main form of identification, it is a secondary form of identification.
Knowing who we are is very important, and who we are is more important than what we do, especially as Christians. The first and most important way we need to identify ourselves is in our relationship with God, not what we do for God. To be someone that fulfills the calling of God and is a help to other people, we need to first develop in our relationship with God. People can have problems if they focus more on what they do for God than they do on maintaining a strong relationship with Him, because doing what God has called us to do starts with our relationship with Him.
In the letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul first identified himself as a "bondservant" of Jesus Christ. Then, after that, he talked about what he had been called to do. Paul correctly identified himself first of all based on his relationship with God, not on what God had called him to do, his ministry work. Just like Paul, we need to put our identity in Christ first. What we are called to do is not as important as who called us to do it. We are first of all children of God, then servants of God. That is where it starts, and what we do for God grows from that.
Romans 1:1 (NKJV)
We all have various forms of identification. We might have a passport, a driver's license, a library card, or even a membership card to some store or organization. When you go to different places, you need a valid form of identification. For example, when I travel to different nations, I cannot show them my library card, which is not a valid form of identification outside of the library. Although I may really like my local library, my library card is not my main form of identification, it is a secondary form of identification.
Knowing who we are is very important, and who we are is more important than what we do, especially as Christians. The first and most important way we need to identify ourselves is in our relationship with God, not what we do for God. To be someone that fulfills the calling of God and is a help to other people, we need to first develop in our relationship with God. People can have problems if they focus more on what they do for God than they do on maintaining a strong relationship with Him, because doing what God has called us to do starts with our relationship with Him.
In the letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul first identified himself as a "bondservant" of Jesus Christ. Then, after that, he talked about what he had been called to do. Paul correctly identified himself first of all based on his relationship with God, not on what God had called him to do, his ministry work. Just like Paul, we need to put our identity in Christ first. What we are called to do is not as important as who called us to do it. We are first of all children of God, then servants of God. That is where it starts, and what we do for God grows from that.
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