You Are The Future

Some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry.
But others preach about Christ with pure motives.
(Philippians 1:15, NLT)


Good Morning,

Tiffany’s third grade class joined two other classes to put on a spring musical. The students had been working for weeks for the night performance. The excitement could be felt. Wiggles and giggles were barely contained. Dressed in costumes, they represented children around the world, singing, “The children of the world are the future.”

In essence, our words and actions towards others today have a ripple effect into the future. The Apostle Paul, a builder of the Early Church, described conflict amongst the believers.

Some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry: There were groups of people that disagreed with Paul’s precepts of the gospel. Jealousy and rivalry focused on a difference of belief between Paul and the groups. Some Jewish people believed Gentiles needed to accept Judaism to become a believer in Christ. To the Judaizers, it made sense that the Gentiles, who often believed in many gods, needed to learn and accept Judaism’s law to align with the One true God as a Christian. Paul, a devout Jew, believed that Christ was to be the bridge to the heart of God. In the end, the groups wanted to make sure Paul would lose the disagreement and be known as the loser.

The manner Paul faced the conflict not only impacted the early church but the future for all believers. Our words and actions have a ripple effect upon person to person from century to century.

But others preach about Christ with pure motives: Those who surrender selfish motives, speaking and acting through pure motives will eventually overpower jealousy and strife. Our choices change today and tomorrow.

What are your motives today?
Your words and actions have a ripple effect for today and tomorrow.
You are the future.


Learning with you that words and actions impact today and the future,
Kerrie

(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2007 All Rights Reserved)
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