self-reflexion

[1over137]

Yesterday I was doing some self-reflexion. Bible verses were popping out at me. Here is a collection I meditated on yesterday. I think it is an interesting reading, so I share it:

Romans 12:6-8:
"We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."

Psalms 37:
"23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
24 When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
Because the Lord is the One [f]who holds his hand."

2 Timothy 2:
"24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will."

Hebrews 4:
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Galatians 5:
"1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."
" 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” "
"19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, [j]factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who [k]belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also [l]walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another."

1 Corinthians 13:
"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body [a]to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing."
"13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the [f]greatest of these is love."

1 John 4:
"7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is [a]born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His [c]only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has [d]for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear [e]involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also."

Romans 10:
"6 But the righteousness [d]based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 [e]that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, [f]resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, [g]resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be [h]disappointed.”

[Sam1995]

Not sure if this belongs in this section! But that's awesome that God is speaking to you and revealing Himself to you!

SB

[1over137]

Not sure if this belongs in this section! But that's awesome that God is speaking to you and revealing Himself to you!

SB

Ou, yes. Next time I put such things into Bible and Scripture forum. (hey, dear boardadmins, do we have some oops smiley?)

[RickD]

Not sure if this belongs in this section! But that's awesome that God is speaking to you and revealing Himself to you!

SB

Ou, yes. Next time I put such things into Bible and Scripture forum. (hey, dear boardadmins, do we have some oops smiley?)

[1over137]

Not sure if this belongs in this section! But that's awesome that God is speaking to you and revealing Himself to you!

SB

Ou, yes. Next time I put such things into Bible and Scripture forum. (hey, dear boardadmins, do we have some oops smiley?)

Indeed it has name oops. But it seems to me that it is embarrased smiley. I like this one more

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

Are you having an existential crisis, Dr?

FL

[1over137]

Why do you ask?

[1over137]

Well, I learned some more about the Bible and now am in the time of doing self-reflection. I wonder whether I have right to call myself a follower of Christ. What do you guys think about having right to call oneself a follower of Christ?

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

You can call yourself whatever you like. Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses call themselves Christians, for example, but that doesn't make them Christians.

So, it is good that you are being honest with yourself. Where do you go from here?

FL

[1over137]

You can call yourself whatever you like. Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses call themselves Christians, for example, but that doesn't make them Christians.

So, it is good that you are being honest with yourself. Where do you go from here?

FL

For the time being I will call myself believer. But there is only option Yes/No in the profile on being Christian.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

For the time being I will call myself believer.

Well, that's a start. Unfortunately, Satan is also a believer so you are in bad company. Even so, it is good that you are being honest with yourself.

But there is only option Yes/No in the profile on being Christian.

It is like being pregnant: there can be no other option besides Yes/No...sorry.

You seemed to be doing so well. What brought about this crisis?

FL

[1over137]

FL: I really appreciate your caring. I will pm you. And yes, I try to be honest.

[Sam1995]

Well, I learned some more about the Bible and now am in the time of doing self-reflection. I wonder whether I have right to call myself a follower of Christ. What do you guys think about having right to call oneself a follower of Christ?

"Do I have a right to call myself a follower of Christ?"

There's the catch, nobody has, does or ever will be righteous to call themselves a follower of Christ, the whole point of being saved by GRACE is that we never deserved Jesus' sacrifice in the first place, Paul puts it pretty nicely in 1 Timothy -

[I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. - 1 Timothy 1:12-15 NIV]

Look at verse 15 in particular, Paul describes himself as, essentially, the worst of the lot. Now, if Paul is describing himself as the worst of the lot then I haven't a clue how bad I am! This passage magnifies the message of grace to us and it gives us a better understanding of what it actually means to be "saved by grace" - you are every bit as righteous as myself, FL or Paul the apostle, and that is not righteous at all!

God bless

SB

[1over137]

Thank you Sam, that was nice post. God bless you too.

[PaulSacramento]

Look at verse 15 in particular, Paul describes himself as, essentially, the worst of the lot. Now, if Paul is describing himself as the worst of the lot then I haven't a clue how bad I am! This passage magnifies the message of grace to us and it gives us a better understanding of what it actually means to be "saved by grace" - you are every bit as righteous as myself, FL or Paul the apostle, and that is not righteous at all!

Paul was an ass, he was a horrible person and one wonders how many followers of Christ died because of him, how many stones HE personally cast.
Even after his conversion he was a bit of an ass.
As are we all.
The grace of God and Gift of the HS is what brings us to Christ, it doesn't make us better people on the spot, that is a long and painful process of repentance and redemption.
But imagine this: To repent is to accept responsibility for all our sins, to take those sin upon US and bare the full weight of their consequences ( that is why so few truly repent and why the skeptics notion of 'all one has to do is repent" is SO INCORRECT), now imagine being Paul !
YIKES !