Greetings to you, dear friends! I am grateful to God for this opportunity to share with you the wisdom from God. We have been talking about how important it is to be fruitful for God. Yesterday we discussed the life and ministry of Apostle Paul. Till the very end of his life Paul wanted to bear more and more fruit for God and His kingdom; after his encounter with Jesus he never stopped but moved forward. Let’s look at some verses of Scripture where Paul talks about himself.
«For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient – in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation, but as it is written: “To whom He was not announced, they shall see; and those who have not heard shall understand.”»(Romans, 15:18-21).
Here we see that Paul took many territories for Christ and still continued to strive for more. He understood that God Who had taken an abode in him was unlimited in His ability. He did not stop at what he had achieved, but kept moving forward in order to bear more fruit to the glory of God. «For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake» (1 Thessalonians, 1:5).
«And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God» (1 Corinthians, 2:4-5).
«Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them» (Acts, 19:11).
Paul said of himself that he wasn’t inferior to other apostles: «For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles. Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not knowledge. Bt we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things» (2 Corinthians, 11:5-6).
So then why didn’t Paul consider himself as the one that hasn’t attained or perfect? Because he did not compare himself to people, – only with the Lord. Since Paul refused to compare himself to people, his desire to go forward did not diminish; his goal was to be like Christ: «For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise» (2 Corinthians, 10:12).
Paul considered it unwise to compare himself to other people. It is possible that comparing to other people you look better or have more fruit. But it only holds when you compare yourself to other people and not to Christ. Jesus Christ is the standard against which to measure ourselves; so we need to compare ourselves to Him alone. Of course, it is easier to imitate the people we see every day. If you do compare yourself to a person, then choose someone like Paul who compared himself to Christ. The people, who compare themselves to Christ and imitate Him, do not stand still; they continually move forward: «Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ» (1 Corinthians, 11:1).
If Paul compared himself to other apostles, he could have stopped on his path, because he was not inferior to them. If we really want to bring more fruit to God, He will help us in doing that. I believe the time has come for every one of us to stop and ask ourselves a serious question as to what fruit we are bearing for God. What are the fruit of my life? Do I strive to bear more and more fruit for God? Jesus said that God is glorified when we are fruitful. So if we want to glorify God Who loves us and cares for us, we won’t just bring some fruit; we will desire to grow in our fruitfulness: «By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples» (John, 15:8).
I wish you abundant God’s blessings! Pastor Rufus Ajiboye
