Morning Musings-Blameless and Useful

Morning Musings with the boys at breakfast...


The apostle Paul doesn't mince words in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-13!  He goes right to it telling them (and us, incidentally) that sanctification is explicitly necessary to ones' Christian living if we are to please God with our life.  Sanctification being that process of becoming more "holy as God is holy" (1 Peter 1:15).    To be sanctified, blameless and to aim towards perfection which will make us useful to our Lord and Master and Savior Jesus Christ; this is the living that pleases God.

It's God's will for us His children to be holy and to continue in this process of spiritual growth and perfection.  How are we to do this?  Part of this process is as follows:

1.   Avoid sexual immorality.  Control your body, its urges, passions and lusts.  Don't wrong yourself and certainly don't cause wrong to others in rape, molestation, incest, even with consenting unmarried to each other, persons and the like.  We, God's children, have the Holy Spirit and one of the characteristics of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is self-control.  Exercise that to the maximum degree needed and so you will grow in that area in a positive way.

2.  Brotherly love features big for disciples of Jesus Christ.  Jesus told His disciples that when we love each other "all men will know that you are My disciples..."  John 13:35.  God demonstrated to us just how much we are to love one another when He sent Jesus to die for our sins and gain us eternal life.  Even while we were still sinners!  He didn't expect us to reach a certain level of goodness or holiness first because He knew we could never measure up.  So He loved us anyway.  That is how we are to love others despite their shortcomings and/or those people we don't like very much.  This kind of love will really get us cuz it won't be easy much of the time.   "The fruit of the Spirit is...love."  (Galatians 6:23)  This will help us though to become more blameless and useful to God when we exercise it in this way. 

3.  Leading a quiet life, minding your own business and working with ones' own hands may sound like it doesn't belong here but I can assure you it does.  The way we carry out our daily life can win respect from outsiders; others will notice.  This will also help us not to be dependent on anyone and so free them to use their time, effort and $$ for others in real need.  We also would not be stirring up trouble for others when we don't go poking into others' life in a nosy sort of way.   Yes, we are supposed to care about and for others, that is part of brotherly love, but don't get so involved in their life that trouble is caused of one sort or another.

Being able to earn ones' own bread (or rice, as the case may be) is a good thing and even special needs people can be taught much to help themselves to their greatest potential and become even semi-independent when and where possible.

To recap, it should be stated that the sanctification process begins at the point of salvation.  We have a problem and that problem is sin.  We are responsible and accountable for our sin.  We cannot do anything about that for ourselves in a satisfactory way for God:  absolutely nothing of significance or in a sufficient way.  Trying to "do better" doesn't work so we need help.  That sin is hurting us and even possibly others.

Help comes in the form of acceptance of salvation through Jesus Christ; reading of God's Word and obeying it; and through the Holy Spirit, Who is given to each and every child of God upon salvation.  When we keep close to God and build up our relationship with Him we will have personal growth and spiritual growth keeping stride making us fit and useful to Father, God our Master and His Son Jesus Christ.

                                                                 ~ERC   2016~