Joyful Living Devotional - Day 8
Day 8 – Rejoicing Over the Main Thing!
Philippians 1:15-19(NLT) It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.
Division and divisiveness are not new; they have plagued humanity since the fall of man. Wherever there are humans, there is division. If you read the Bible with romanticized eyes, you will get a warped perspective. One of the many reasons I love God’s Word is that it doesn’t hide people’s dysfunctions or embellish their characteristics. It tells us about Thomas’s doubts, John and James’ fiery temperaments, Peter’s hypocrisy, and his water-walking expedition. The good and bad are clearly seen. Sometimes we think that there was only unity in the early church; far from it. How many times do we read in the New Testament about being admonished to strive for unity, to have the same mind, the same purpose, and to be of one accord?
Divisiveness robs us of peace, shrinks our resolve, and limits our potential. One thing I know about divisiveness, beyond the other maladies it brings, is that it saps our joy. However, in Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, we see something that reveals a remarkable characteristic. In verse 12, it seems he is responding to an inquiry about his well-being (I want you to know…), and then he goes on to tell them about those who have renewed zeal to proclaim Christ’s message. Among those preaching the Good News, some preach from pure motives, while others preach with selfish ambition. Those who preach without sincerity are making Paul’s imprisonment more difficult.
We don’t really know what that means except that their preaching made things more difficult for Paul. Nevertheless, we see in Paul a quality I believe we all need to embrace. The ability to keep the main thing the main thing.
Keeping the main thing, the main thing, can be challenging when we take our eyes off our purpose and focus on people. What is the main thing? The main thing is that we continue to proclaim Jesus' message to the world! Not everyone has pure motives, and not everyone is sincere, but keeping ourselves busy trying to discern people’s motives will prove to be a fruitless venture.
It is sometimes difficult for us to wrap our minds around the fact that God uses all kinds of people to proclaim the message of Jesus, even those with wrong motives. Even when the motive is wrong, the message of Christ remains pure! That does not mean we should not strive for pure motives; it simply means we should leave the judging of other people’s motives to the Lord Himself. We barely know how to judge our own motives, so we should tread lightly when it comes to the motives of others. Our purpose is to proclaim Jesus. Are you proclaiming Jesus or judging others?
We need to adopt Paul’s attitude: “18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.” Knowing that the message of Christ is greater than the messengers keeps the main thing the main thing. We should rejoice that the Name of Jesus and His saving grace are being proclaimed, even when it is people we don’t necessarily think are doing it from pure motives. Jesus is in charge of His church. He said, “He will build His church,” so let Him use whoever He chooses, not whoever we approve of.
“God cares nothing about our manmade divisions and groups and is not interested in our self-righteous, hair-splitting, and religious, man-made formulas and organizations. He wants you to recognize the UNITY of the body of Christ.” – M.R. DeHaan
We should focus on the good news that the Good News is being preached and that Christ is being proclaimed. We can rejoice that people have the opportunity to hear about Jesus, and we should double down on rejoicing rather than criticism. So, rejoice today when you hear someone proclaiming the Good News of Jesus, because there is joy in Heaven when one lost sinner repents and returns to God. That is keeping the main thing the main thing…
“When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” Luke 15:6-8(NLT)
Prayer:
Philippians 1:15-19(NLT) It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.
Division and divisiveness are not new; they have plagued humanity since the fall of man. Wherever there are humans, there is division. If you read the Bible with romanticized eyes, you will get a warped perspective. One of the many reasons I love God’s Word is that it doesn’t hide people’s dysfunctions or embellish their characteristics. It tells us about Thomas’s doubts, John and James’ fiery temperaments, Peter’s hypocrisy, and his water-walking expedition. The good and bad are clearly seen. Sometimes we think that there was only unity in the early church; far from it. How many times do we read in the New Testament about being admonished to strive for unity, to have the same mind, the same purpose, and to be of one accord?
Divisiveness robs us of peace, shrinks our resolve, and limits our potential. One thing I know about divisiveness, beyond the other maladies it brings, is that it saps our joy. However, in Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, we see something that reveals a remarkable characteristic. In verse 12, it seems he is responding to an inquiry about his well-being (I want you to know…), and then he goes on to tell them about those who have renewed zeal to proclaim Christ’s message. Among those preaching the Good News, some preach from pure motives, while others preach with selfish ambition. Those who preach without sincerity are making Paul’s imprisonment more difficult.
We don’t really know what that means except that their preaching made things more difficult for Paul. Nevertheless, we see in Paul a quality I believe we all need to embrace. The ability to keep the main thing the main thing.
Keeping the main thing, the main thing, can be challenging when we take our eyes off our purpose and focus on people. What is the main thing? The main thing is that we continue to proclaim Jesus' message to the world! Not everyone has pure motives, and not everyone is sincere, but keeping ourselves busy trying to discern people’s motives will prove to be a fruitless venture.
It is sometimes difficult for us to wrap our minds around the fact that God uses all kinds of people to proclaim the message of Jesus, even those with wrong motives. Even when the motive is wrong, the message of Christ remains pure! That does not mean we should not strive for pure motives; it simply means we should leave the judging of other people’s motives to the Lord Himself. We barely know how to judge our own motives, so we should tread lightly when it comes to the motives of others. Our purpose is to proclaim Jesus. Are you proclaiming Jesus or judging others?
We need to adopt Paul’s attitude: “18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.” Knowing that the message of Christ is greater than the messengers keeps the main thing the main thing. We should rejoice that the Name of Jesus and His saving grace are being proclaimed, even when it is people we don’t necessarily think are doing it from pure motives. Jesus is in charge of His church. He said, “He will build His church,” so let Him use whoever He chooses, not whoever we approve of.
“God cares nothing about our manmade divisions and groups and is not interested in our self-righteous, hair-splitting, and religious, man-made formulas and organizations. He wants you to recognize the UNITY of the body of Christ.” – M.R. DeHaan
We should focus on the good news that the Good News is being preached and that Christ is being proclaimed. We can rejoice that people have the opportunity to hear about Jesus, and we should double down on rejoicing rather than criticism. So, rejoice today when you hear someone proclaiming the Good News of Jesus, because there is joy in Heaven when one lost sinner repents and returns to God. That is keeping the main thing the main thing…
“When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” Luke 15:6-8(NLT)
Prayer:
- Pray for people and ministries on the front lines of preaching the Good News of Christ.
- Ask the Lord to help you keep the main thing the main thing and rejoice when people turn to Him.
- Pray that your focus will be on telling others about Jesus instead of judging others’ motives.
- Ask the Lord to help you keep your motives pure.
- Let the Holy Spirit show you a person to pray for, a person to show an act of kindness to, and a person to reach out to with the Good News of Christ.
Posted in Joyful Living Devotional