Face To FaithSample

Have you ever met that kind of person? You know, the kind who’s just been gifted at something. Maybe it’s money, or maybe relationships, or maybe school, but whatever it was, it always came easy.

Maybe you are that kind of person. Either way, I want you to know today that we, as a church, have not come up short in anything. We are not lacking. In fact, we are stacked with blessings. But as wonderful as God’s blessings on us are and have been, we cannot for a mo- ment begin to take it all for granted or somehow allow ourselves to use His blessings for the wrong purposes.

No, the question isn’t whether we’ve come up short in some way. The question is whether we are using His blessings faithfully. And in this, we can learn from Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, because they had also been blessed beyond their needs, yet they had come completely off track because they were now using their blessings selfishly.

They had forgotten giving. They had forgotten serving. The only thing they were faithful to was their sin.

So if we are supposed to be faithful with the blessings we have been given, then what is our goal? I mean, what’s our target, our aim, our purpose and destination so that we can be faithful on purpose?
Paul answers this question for us, too, naming our focus for faithfulness nine times in the first nine verses of 1 Corinthians. Do you know whom he names? Jesus Christ. He names our Lord, Jesus Christ.

He is our aim, our focus, our desire, and our measure of faithfulness. Are we using our blessings for Him, for His kingdom, according to His will? Or are we using our blessings for our desires, our flesh, or maybe even for the best charitable organization we think we can find?

The truth is that until we have made Jesus the focus not only of our faith, but of our entire lives, giving Him full say in what we do with ourselves and all that belongs to us, then our faithfulness is in danger of falling short.

Prayer
Lord Jesus,
I know that one day You will hold me accountable for how faithful I have been with the bless- ings You have given me. Please teach me what it means to be faithful to You with all I am and all I have!
Amen