John 14:27b my peace I give unto you

Have you ever been given a sales pitch that talks about an introductory offer? It usually details great benefits or savings which are only available right now. This is one of those things which makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. My experiences say whatever I got for a “good deal” was coming with hidden cost I don’t want. Every offer comes with a down side. Except one.

In 1963 I was a troubled youth with anger issues. In church one day I said in my heart “I don’t want to be this way.” When I raised my hand to the alter call, I met Jesus and He gave me His peace. Mind you, I had no idea that this was nothing but an introductory offer. I receive the answer to my prayer, faint and misled as it might have been, my anger disappeared.

I was so focused on the anger being gone, that I did not recognize that the peace was my first encounter with Jesus. No stipulations were give, no conditions were identified, peace was mine and it has never been taken away, altered, or in any way used against me.

It was the first gift, but not the last. If I had recognized it for what it really was, I would have paid closer attention to the other offers that were lying in wait for me to accept. I could have received the abundant life much earlier than what I did. I would have caused less pain in other people’s lives had I known.

The free gifts of my Lord and Savior may come to me but they are meant to enrich the lives of everyone I touch.

Colossians 2:6-7 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

As a child I would stand against the doorjamb while my mother would mark my height. Have you done that? If the answer is yes to that, have you ever fudged a little by trying to lift your heals off the floor to gain a little growth that you haven’t made?

I would say that is normal. Children do want to grow up and be taller. The instinct to grow is natural and there is nothing wrong with wanting to be taller. For a child it is a mark of maturing. For most of us as children it was the only aspect of maturing we look for in ourselves. It after all was easily measured, recorded and viewed in reflection of growth.

How about spiritual growth? What is your measuring tool? Have you even given it any consideration at all? Considering there are scriptures that refer to us a babes in Christ, and mature Christians, then there must be some way for us to identify where we fall on the doorjam. Like the child I was, the last thing I would wish to do now is to be vainly puffed up by my fleshly mind. Ref Colossians 2:18

An accurate measurement should be taken for anyone who has an earnest desire to know where they stand. If that be the case for you then might I suggest something which you can draw from in your life experience?

Don’t measure yourself.

Read rather the commendations that Paul made of others in Romans 16. He had many good things to say of others who had involved themselves in Paul’s life. Paul came to an understanding of who they were and their worth through relationships. In Christian fellowship you will find encouragement and exhortation.

The measure of a man is not in what he thinks of himself but in his friends.