Don’t make your faith into a religion if you do, you won’t only make yourself miserable but all those around you. Everyone is spoken to and convicted by God in different ways. Everyone is told and given special abilities and gifts by God. Don’t push, compare or measure yourself against anyone else. You were not perfect when you came to Christ and you are still being pruned and perfected at this moment. God hasn’t taken you from this life yet. Christ should be your center of thought and from there comes true knowledge, understanding and love. It pains and saddens me to see such human understanding in God’s people. God sees you as perfected only by the shed blood of Christ, not in your own ways of trying to make yourself right.
And "since you are so eager to have spiritual gifts, ask God for those that will be of real help to the whole church." 1 Corinthians 14:12
And remember "If I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever." 1 Corinthians 13:2-3
Remember what Jesus said, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." John 15: 4-5
"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever, but prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will all disappear." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the law? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit came upon you only after you believed the message you heard about Christ. Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? You have suffered so much for the Good News. Surely it was not in vain, was it? Are you now going to just throw it all away? I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law of Moses? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. In the same way, ‘Abraham believed God, so God declared him righteous because of his faith." The real children of Abraham, then, are all those who put their faith in God. What’s more, the Scriptures look forward to this time when God would accept the Gentiles, too, on the basis of their faith. God promised this god news Abraham long ago when he said, ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ And so it is: All who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith." Galatians 2-9
Wasn’t it in God’s graciousness and kindness that he showed you the truth by the Spirit of truth- the Counselor – the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, "And when he comes, he will convince the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment." John 16:8
He did this because he loved you first regardless of your past actions. Your convictions and assumptions need to be dropped when reaching out and building up others in Christ- for they only build up walls and unnecessary battles and may even cause them to stumble away from Christ and become slaves again. God will transition them from milk to solid foods in his time not yours.
"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting his own ideas; he will be telling you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by revealing to you whatever he receives from me. All the Father has is mine; this is what I mean when I say that the Spirit will reveal to you whatever he receives from me." John 16:13
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