Articles
How Much Do You Have?
I’m not asking how much money you have. That is none of my business, and it is of little consequence. How much do you have of other things? How much. . .
Knowledge? Do you “understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17)? Is it sufficient that “no one will delude you with persuasive argument” (Colossians 2:4)?
Faith? Is it enough to keep you “firmly established and steadfast, not moved away from the hope of the gospel” (Colossians 1:23)? Is it sufficient to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:18)?
Wisdom? Can you “discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14)? Can you distinguish what is profitable from what is lawful (1 Corinthians 6:12)? Are you “careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time . . .” (Ephesians 5:15-16)?
Courage? Are you always willing to confess Christ (Matthew 10:32-33)? Do you expose “the unfruitful deeds of darkness” (Ephesians 5:11)? Can others count on you to “be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 15:13)?
Compassion? Is it enough to come to another’s aid, as the good Samaritan did (Luke 10:33-36)? Is it enough “to seek and save that which was lost,” as Jesus did (Luke 19:10)? Are you “kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you?” (Ephesians 5:32).
Influence? Can you say, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1)? Do you “have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men” (2 Corinthians 8:21)? Are you “blameless and innocent . . . in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15)?
Humility? Do you “in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21)? Do you “with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3)?
Determination? Are you “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58)? Do you, regardless of what happens, “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14)?
