God has also appointed leaders in the church to help us develop spiritual discernment. They do this by teaching sound doctrine and refuting any ideas that contradict Scripture. Under the instruction of these mature believers, we can grow in righteousness by learning biblical truths and then applying them.
Commentary from the In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley, January 5, 2021.
Purity of heart is obtained by degrees as we resist old patterns and grow in Christlikeness.
Commentary from the In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley, July 2020.
Most of the Corinthian believers were the opposite of what Paul here admonished. They were extremely experienced in evil, but greatly lacking in wisdom.
Commentary from the MacArthur study Bible, notes for 1 Corinthians 14:20.
Didn’t Jesus serve others on Sundays only?
The Lord is very clear that works cannot save us-in fact, He compares our good deeds to filthy rags (Isa. 64:6). On the other hand, God’s grace is not a license to be lazy; Christians are called upon to serve the Lord every day.
From the outside, it is usually impossible to distinguish between works and service in someone else’s life. But God knows the motivation of every heart. He is pleased by the things we do to show Him our love and to express appreciation for His countless blessings. Such actions bring glory to His name.
Keep in mind that serving God in order to earn His favor or ensure that He continues His blessing in your life amounts to thwarting grace. You can do nothing to deserve the Lord’s kindness! He pours it upon believers freely, so the only thing you can “do” is receive it.
On the other hand, we may be one of those who has learned to be a passive observer par excellence. In my opinion, sitting in our chairs every night just being a viewer of things has sort of conditioned most of us to become that way, and is really the new normal, don’t you think?
There is actually A LOT of work to do, and it likely won’t come and find you.
“Christians should move on to spiritual maturity. We must feast on the meat of God’s Word and put into practice the lessons we have learned. It is the only way to grow up.” Haddon W. Robinson (emphasis mine)
Portions of commentary from Charles Stanley’s In Touch devotional, January 4, 2017.
-Word- pictures by DLink 