Tag: status

Mold Me, Use Me

Ezra 9-10

Psalm 87

2 Timothy 2

-devotion by Carla Hardy (MI)

In the “real” world, our status is so often measured by worldly things – your family, your job, your home, your car, your social circle, your financial reality…the list goes on. However, status in this sense means very little to God. It doesn’t matter what we are “made of.” It matters whether we are pure. 

Verse 20 in 2 Timothy 2 says, “Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable.” If we looked at these materials from a worldly standpoint, we would obviously deem gold and silver as much more valuable, and wood and clay as more standard and unpolished. However, gold and silver can be impure.  They may look bright and shiny on the outside, but impurities can lurk, and often it takes more than just a skin-deep glance to determine this. On the other hand, raw wood is primitive and simple in nature, but can be pure in its constitution. The opposite can be true of each element, but the point is, outward status alone cannot determine something’s purity. 

In verse 21 Paul tells us that if we cleanse ourselves of dishonorable, impure things, we can be “set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” Cleansing from impure things and setting our hearts and minds on the word of God and His heart and will makes us vessels that He can use for good. 

I am not someone who the world would look at and say “oh, she has made it!” My status in this life is pretty average. But, I am a child of God and my desire isn’t to be looked upon in envy by the world, but to be used by God as a vessel for His good. I want to have a pure heart and mind, so I can be God’s agent, out in the world, proclaiming His name and working as the hands and feet of Jesus. In this life, I’ll happily be the clay, a long as He is the potter. 

Reflection Questions:

  1. Do you look up to anyone who the world would consider a high-status person? Why? Why not?
  2. If you’re being honest with yourself, do you sometimes wish you could reach a certain worldly status? What would you consider that to be?
  3. How do you want to be used by God? What is holding you back?

Prayer:

God, thank you for seeing my heart. Thank you for not looking at my status in this world to determine my worth. Thank you for seeing me for who I am, and shaping me into someone who can be used for your good. Help me to cleanse myself of impurities so I can wholeheartedly serve you and honor you. Amen.

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Update Your Status

Philippians 3

Monday, August 22, 2022

Paul had more religious credentials than any of the original twelve apostles of Christ.  His resume started in his infancy.  He was circumcised on the eighth day, his family strictly adhering to God’s rule.  His heritage came from the tribe of Benjamin, who were faithful warriors of God.  He was disciplined and studious, becoming a Pharisee. He passionately persecuted the church, having a direct hand in the stoning of Stephen. In so doing, he obtained and maintained a fleshly status that would easily make him an important member of the Sanhedrin in no time.  But that’s all it was.  Someone who lived with a long list of labels, accomplishments, and titles, but ultimately, will be a victim of the same death as those who live without them.

“If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.”  Philippians 3:4b-6

Status, which once was predetermined by feudal, caste, tribal or class systems, is now something that changes with our emotions or musings. Our connotation of the word has changed with the invention of social media..  The evolution of “status-ifying” oneself, has led to the rapid (d)evolution of a crushing identity problem.  Occupation, education, pronouns, history, trauma, gender, race, family, and religion have become our most featured bullet points. We become these things or sometimes, these identities are thrust upon us.  As unpopular as this messaging may be in my place and time, the words of Paul still ring true: It’s all garbage.  Every. Single. Bit.  Anything that doesn’t have eternal value is a name or stigma I no longer bear under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”  Philippians 3:7-9

We are not simply made righteous by calling ourselves Christian.  Neither are we made holy because we’re a good mom, dad, or child.  Nor are we not justified because of our bloodline or heritage.  And we are not forgiven because we found a new definition for the same old sin. We are “status-ified” by Christ. So, what exactly is it?  We are, through faith, redeemed and adopted Children of God. It is not our first status.  It is our ONLY status. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul states there isn’t slave, free, man, woman, Jew, or Greek, meaning every title, other than that achieved through faith in Jesus Christ, is negligible, conditional, or temporary, — even dead. When we acknowledge him, He grabs hold of us and doesn’t let go. His Father calls us to resurrection and the treasure that is stored in heaven, ready to descend with the promised return of Jesus Christ, and on that day, there is only one group placed in the Lamb’s Book of Life: those who are saved by faith in Jesus Christ.  Hit the refresh button, and take a good, long look.  It might be time to update your status.

“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10,11

-Aaron Winner

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. IF you were to follow the ways of the world what COULD you use to give yourself status?
  2. What is the eternal value of each item you listed in question 1?
  3. What will/does it look like to reorder your life to gain Christ instead?
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