Devotional Life Approval Rating with Others

 

Devotional Life

Approval Rating with Others

Avoid quarreling words

God is not sending us to fight with people Ephesians 6:12

 We are called to the ministry of reconciliation, to be Ambassadors 2 Corinthians 5:18-ff

We are not here to create war, but peace

Truth is meant to set people free

But without love, truth becomes words of destruction

When your spirit is in the right place, when you study God’s Word

You will gain respect

With respect comes approval

Respect God’s Word

Avoid godless words 

 

 

Approval Rating with Others

 

When I think of what gives me the

greatest joy in my life of 67 years…

 

The first thing that comes

to mind is Jesus Christ.

 

With Him in my life I have

learned to appreciate life its self.

 

The second thing that has

given me great joy is friends.

 

The top of my list of friends is my wife,

 Sandy, then the rest of my family.

 

Beyond that, the friends I have and had

the pleasure of experiencing life together.

 

It is nice to be alone at times, but

“others” bring me so much joy.

 

I like others so much I care about

what they think about me.

 

There are times I might not say

a word because my views are

different than that of others.

 

Sometimes out of respect,

but sometimes out of fear

of losing their friendship.

 

When Paul tells Timothy to study

or show diligence to God’s Word…

 

He makes two points.

 

One, do it to be approved by God.

 

Secondly, do it to be approved my others.

 

In verse 14 of 2 Timothy 2,

warns us of maybe the

biggest relational problem…

 

QUARRELING.

 

Quarreling…is of no value,

and only ruins those who listen.

 

Quarreling is…godless chatter,

because those who indulge in it will

 become more and more ungodly.

verse 16

 

Quarreling…will spread like gangrene.

verse 17

 

Quarreling…makes us

all sick and yet we all do it.

 

And yet, some actually love to quarrel.

 

There are those who seem to love

picking on the words you say.

 

Quarreling is easy to get caught up in.

 

Paul calls it “godless chatter”…

 

And “indulge in it will become

more and more ungodly.”

 

So how do we deal with

this relational problem?

 

How can we boost our

approval ratings with others?

 

First “avoid”, don’t get caught up

in quarreling or godless chatter.

 

Second, in your devotional time.

  

 Be a “workman” a laborer, of God’s Word.

 

Know what the Bible says…

 

Don’t just pull words out of

context to prove your point.

 

Don’t approach God’s Word so you

know what you are talking about.

 

Approach it to know

what God is talking about.

 

Your goal in your devotional time is

to discover the truth and the Spirit.

 

 Psalms 31:5 gives us good advice…

 

Into your hands I commit my spirit;

redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

 

Approach God’s Word with a

humble spirit, unbias, open minded.

 

Truth is too often used as legal argument.

 

A matter of facts without heart.

 

Truth is law and without spirit it kills.

 

Proper study of God’s Word will give life.

 

He has made us competent

as ministers of a new covenant-

— not of the letter but of the Spirit;

for the letter kills,

but the Spirit gives life.

2 Corinthians 3:6

 

Our God is only pleased with worship

that has a proper blend of spirit and truth.

 

God is spirit, and his worshipers

must worship in spirit and in truth."  

John 4:24

 

The spirit is the heart of God which is love.

 

The truth is the facts “it is what it is”.

 

“Correctly handles the word of truth.”

 

Will speak the truth in love.

Ephesians 4:15

 

So how does this affect our

approval rating with others?

 

“Correctly handles the word of truth”

 

Brings respect.

 

Without respect you have no audience.

 

Respect is the missing

detention in our society.

 

Protesters want respect, but when

they shout and act violently showing

disrespect, they lose respect.

 

 When we…

  

“correctly handles the word of truth”

 

We will not get caught

up in godless chatter.

 

We will not look for

witty ways to use words.

 

We will, with love, break down

the dividing walls as we speak of

God’s Word, not godless words.

 

God is not sending us to fight with people.

Ephesians 6:12

 

 We are called to the ministry of

Reconciliation, to be Ambassadors.

2 Corinthians 5:18-ff

We are not here to create war, but peace.

 

Truth is meant to set people free.

 

 Without love, truth becomes

words of destruction.

 

When your spirit is in the right place,

 when you study God’s Word…

 

You will gain respect.

 

With respect comes approval.

 

Respect God’s Word.

 

Avoid godless words.

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

2 Timothy 2:14-19 NIV

 

14 Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."