Tuning My Heart Quilts
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Tutorials
    • Tutorials
    • We Can Build a Snowman BOM
  • Shop
  • Free Patterns
  • Recipes
  • Library
  • Pattern Testers
  • Contact Me

Philippians 1:15-18-Motivation

2/27/2013

0 Comments

 
Scripture:
Philippians 1:15-18a
1:15 Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will;

1:16 the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel;

1:17 the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.

1:18a What then?  Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed: and in this I rejoice.


Observation:
People were responding to Paul's imprisonment by preaching Christ.

The motives that moved people to preach differed greatly.

Paul rejoices in both, because either way Christ is being proclaimed.



Picture
Application:
Yesterday I wrote about how the church was responding to Paul's imprisonment in Without Fear, God's word was being shared.  Apparently, there were some very differing motives behind it all.  There were those who were "preaching Christ" out of love.  Love for the Lord, love for Paul.  They did not want his ministry to stop because he was in prison and so they took it up.  Their motives were pure.


Then there were those who were preaching Christ to promote themselves.  Paul was in prison and it gave them a chance to try and replace him.  They wanted his fame, his influence, the love the people had for him.  And so they preached the gospel, not because they cared about defending it, not because they desired that all should come to know Christ or to know the freedom and blessings that come through salvation.  They did it to lift themselves up and thinking that it would bother Paul; to cause him distress.


Paul was not distressed.  He was rejoicing.  All he cared about was that the gospel was being preached.  The power of God's word to save was not lessened by the motivation of the presenter.  And the gospel was being preached more than ever.  


It sounds to me like the message of Christ was not being changed.  To be sure their were some impure hearts behind it, but they were not deceiving people with false teaching.  They were sticking to God's word.  This is an important distinction.  That's why Paul could rejoice.  I am not sure exactly what to do with the application of these verses today.  At first I thought, well I should rejoice when Christ is preached, no matter whether I agree with the methods the person uses or not, and to some extent that is true.  There are a lot of people sharing the gospel in what I think are pretty kooky ways out there today.  As long as the message is not changed, I need to stop being critical and rejoice instead that Christ is being proclaimed.  It is not about the messenger, but the message.  But what about all the stuff being said by people today, especially those who are trying to be more inclusive, trying to make church popular with the masses? They are drawing large numbers of people to their services, to their activities, to their conferences-should I rejoice?  Are they changing the message?  is Christ still being proclaimed?  These are the questions I am struggling with.  I would love to hear what you think.  I may even need to hear what you think.





Prayer:
These verses leave me desiring to pray for wisdom and discernment; and the ability to rejoice when Christ is proclaimed- not based upon the speaker, but the message that is shared.
I also need to pray that as I write and share God's word that my motives remain pure.  Right now I am here because I love the Lord and I love His book and I desire to encourage that love in others.  If this ever starts to be about me, then I am asking the Lord right now to do what is necessary to purify my heart- for I would much rather come to you with love than selfish ambition.


Grace and Peace,
Deb

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Enter your email address to subscribe to updates :

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Bible Options
    Logos Bible Software
    Bible Study Software
    Picture

    Author

    I am a woman with a Mary heart and these are my musings as I read and study God's Word

    Join me on facebook

    Tuning My Heart

    Promote Your Page Too

    Archives

    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Picture

    Follow me on Twitter

    Follow @tuningmyheart
    NetworkedBlogs
    Blog:
    Sitting at His Feet
    Topics:
    Devotions, Bible Study, Christianity
     
    Follow my blog
    Picture

    RSS Feed

-Shipping Policy

Privacy Policy
Contact Me

Tuning My Heart Quilts by Debra Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.tuning-my-heart.com.


Copyright 2010-2022 by Tuning My Heart Quilts, LLC. No part of this website can be reproduced without written permission from the author. All rights reserved.

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Tutorials
    • Tutorials
    • We Can Build a Snowman BOM
  • Shop
  • Free Patterns
  • Recipes
  • Library
  • Pattern Testers
  • Contact Me