Day37

Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. (2 Timothy 2:1–2, NLT).

Have you ever seen the home of a hoarder? Some of us like clutter or at least others would label us packrats, but hoarding is a whole different level of acquisition. True hoarders are either unwilling or even unable to discard excess. They purchase, stack, fill, and before long room after room of their homes overflow. Eventually their entire home becomes unlivable. It’s a sad condition.

Some of us aren’t physical hoarders but spiritual hoarders. We take, take, take and never give. And this too is a sad state of affairs, because hoarding hinders grace.

God only pours so much into people who say, “It stops with me.” Let’s say you’ve been growing and learning spiritually, and you have a friend at work who has never gotten to hear what’s been entrusted to you, or a family member who desperately needs to hear what you’ve been learning. Hoarding those truths doesn’t make you stronger; no, hoarding hinders you receiving all that God wants to give you.

Is your faith like that? Do you take in but never give out? It’s possible to listen, learn, hear, and agree but feel no responsibility to pass that along to others. Let’s say you’re new in your faith, and you’re growing and learning exponentially. If you want to keep growing, you have to entrust those lessons to others and “teach others also.”

This principle is foundational to discipleship. The vision of church is not for you to attend church; the vision is for you to become a mature, reproducing disciple.

• Pray: Father God, forgive me for hoarding grace. That doesn’t help me grow; it only stifles my own growth and others’. Thank You for all that I have heard “in the presence of many reliable witnesses.” Thank You for feeding me through sermons, devotionals, books, and Bible studies. Help me to entrust those truths to others. Make me teachable, Lord, and make me a teacher. Teach me to transfer what I’ve learned to other willing hearts. I can never outgive You; You just keep pouring grace into my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

• Pray that our church family would start taking our next steps of growth and God would powerfully use us to reach our world for Christ.

• Pray that God would use His Church to make peace in our world.