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Life Around "The Fire"
Life Around "The Fire"
Kingdom Culture: Finding Balance in How We View Ourselves
Trapped between thinking too highly of yourself and not highly enough? You're not alone. This profound spiritual tension affects how we function within God's Kingdom and impacts everyone around us.
The Apostle Paul's instruction to think of ourselves "with sober judgment" (Romans 12:3) provides a crucial navigational tool for believers. When our self-perception becomes inflated, we develop entitled attitudes that use people and love things. Conversely, when we undervalue ourselves, we shirk God-given responsibilities that could benefit others, causing a different kind of harm. Both extremes damage the body of Christ and hinder Kingdom advancement.
Looking at biblical meditation—not as Eastern mysticism but as the purposeful rumination on truth like a cow chewing its cud—helps us develop this balanced self-perception. The Kingdom of God values interdependence, recognizing that visible ministries (like hands) and invisible ones (like hearts) are equally essential. The shipbuilding metaphor illustrates this beautifully: the less-glamorous "helps" ministries function like iron bands holding wooden ships together—without them, the vessel can't float.
Most powerfully, acknowledging our need for others isn't weakness but meekness—strength under control. Like a trained war horse that protects rather than tramples its fallen rider, meekness channels power through submission. As we navigate the spiritual battles of our time (comparable to the bloody period between D-Day and V-E Day in WWII), this balanced self-understanding becomes crucial to our effectiveness in God's advancing Kingdom.
What might change in your relationships and ministry if you embraced this "sober judgment" about yourself? Reach out to us at lifeonthefire@gmail.com—we'd love to hear your thoughts and questions as you process these kingdom principles.
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life.
Shalom to you and your home.
We've been focusing on the values, practices and priorities found in the kingdom of God in the past few podcast episodes and what we mean by the values, practices and priorities of God's kingdom. We're referring to the culture. What makes up the culture of God's kingdom. Much like we're born into a culture, in whatever part of the world you were naturally born into whether it's in Africa, in Asia, europe, canada, mexico, america, the United States, whatever country you were born there are priorities that make up your culture. And, much like fish are born in water, people are born into a culture. People are born into a culture and fish really don't stop and think about the fact that they are living in water. Right, they just live in it. And the same goes for people that we are born into a culture, but we really don't think about it that much. We just live in it. And the kingdom of God is a real kingdom that has within it a real culture. And his kingdom, god's kingdom, is an eternal kingdom. In fact, his kingdom is the kingdom that is going to rule and reign forever.
Speaker 1:Right now, we're in a time in which there is a spiritual clash going on. There's a clash of kingdoms, if you will. Going on. There's a clash of are part of that battle. There are things that are going on that really have serious implications, much like in World War II, where the victory was secure in World War II, in what's known as D-Day, when Normandy was taken and the victory over the enemy was secure. But between D-Day and the conclusion of the war, world War II, v-e Day, there were some of the bloodiest battles that took place and real casualties took place during that period of time. And much the same goes for what has taken place when Jesus died on the cross. That being, compared to D-Day, the victory was and is secure. But between that and his coming again, which would be considered VE Day, there are some real battles going on, and some of them are the bloodiest battles that we've seen thus far. And so we've been focusing in on the values, as I said, the practices and priorities.
Speaker 1:But we're going to take a brief caveat, and there are some things that have been just ruminating. They've been going around and around in my heart and mind. I've been meditating on them, and funny thing about that word, meditate, right, it's really not just a person sitting in a lotus position with their finger and their thumb forming a circle and chanting the word OM as a form of meditation, but biblical meditation. Or what? As a form of meditation? But biblical meditation? Or what we find in Scripture when the word meditation is used, is actually best portrayed in how a cow digests its food. It chews its cud. It'll chew the first bite of food, swallow it and then it'll go through a process of assimilation and chew on that cud again, and we'll do that several times until it is fully assimilated into the cow's body. It ruminates or, if you will, it meditates. It chews the cud, and so there's been something that has been going on in my heart and mind, as I said, for quite some time, and I'd like to share it with you because I think it's pertinent to some of you who are listening, and we've made a commitment a while back on this podcast that we're not really concerned about or focused on the number of people that are listening at one time.
Speaker 1:We're not primarily focused on demographics or on marketing and on numbers and things that go along with that, even though in business those are points that are important points of consideration, but the lord gave us instruction a few years ago not to do that. In fact, he said the most important number to be concerned about first and foremost was him and then one other individual. If one other individual listening receives something that's beneficial excuse me that can bring about inspiration, revelation and application. If something can be applied to your life one person it is a successful podcast episode, and, faithfully, each episode we've had that experience where at least one person has benefited from what's been communicated, and that one person might just be you in this episode, and we found out that there's actually more than just one. Oftentimes that really is impacted, and we've been fortunate enough to see things communicated on all the continents in over 100 nations, and 1,300 plus cities around the world tune into this particular podcast, but it wouldn't be a success if a bunch of people just tuned in and were entertained and lives weren't transformed. However, if one life is impacted, it's a success. It's a success, and so we thank God for what he's doing and how he's doing it. And the message that I'm looking to convey to you today concerns us and how we view who we are.
Speaker 1:It's important for us to have a correct view of who we are, because if a person has a view of themselves that is inaccurate, things in your life don't go well. If a person thinks of themselves too high, they're just too high on themselves. You end up hurting people Because you use people and you tend to love things instead of using things and loving people Because your attitude about yourself is one of entitlement. Too much privilege without the proper balancing responsibility leads to that sense of entitlement, and many of us have seen the real caricaturization of entitlement. When we look at the generation right now that is coming of age, that is coming of age, the sense of entitlement can be very, very disconcerting. People tend to want things without paying the price of having them. It's like you owe me attitude.
Speaker 1:And when that takes place, when there's too much privilege and not enough responsibility, people tend to abuse people in their relationships because the inflated ego overestimates their impact and in order to get what they want, they tend to hurt people in order to get what they want. They tend to hurt people in order to get things. Also, on the other hand, if we think too little of ourselves, we can actually hurt people, because sometimes we have the responsibility of fulfilling a role and with that comes a privilege to do it, but we say things like, well, I'm just not worthy, and we might not say it out loud, but we tend to take a backseat role instead of stepping up and fulfilling the purpose that God has for your life, for our life. In Romans, chapter 12, excuse me, in Romans, chapter 12, verse 3, the Apostle Paul says this to a group of people he's writing to in Rome. But the Spirit of God is saying it to us today as well, and it's this For, by the grace given me, I say to every one of you do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you, soberly, soberly. Now, paul's emphasizing not to think too high, but with that, there's also the understanding that it's important for us not to think too low but to think soberly, because we each have a purpose to fulfill. That's significant, and if you're not fulfilling it because you think too low of yourself, we actually hurt people by not fulfilling our role. But if we think too highly of ourselves, we fail to associate with people that we consider to be lower than ourselves and we actually hurt those people by mistreating them and devaluing who they are. James said that God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and sometimes people that are financially not as well off as we are can be labeled as lesser, when in all reality, they carry a greater faith, a faith that we can benefit from as we associate with them. If we have material goods to share, they can benefit from those that we can give to them and they can give to us the benefit of the faith that they have. And so, in working together, we see things accomplished in the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:We're living in a time right now where it's very important for us to think about ourselves correctly or, as the Apostle Paul said, in a sober way, meaning clear-minded. You know, when you're inebriated, oftentimes you can have lofty thoughts or you can get really depressed. If you're inebriated and think very low about life, nobody knows the trouble that you have mentality, or look how great I am, people just don't appreciate how great I am. But soberly, where we think about things accurately and we need the help of God to do that and we need the help of God to do that, and when we function that way, unique things take place. In the construct of the body of Christ, we begin to love each other on a level that is supernatural, because we can see things with a clear mind, with a clear heart, and we can function accordingly. If you have the opportunity of doing great things, don't pretend that you can't in your attempt to be humble, that you can't in your attempt to be humble, because false humility is nothing more than pride wearing a different set of clothes. And if you have something that is not a very visible purpose but more of a behind-the-scenes calling, don't think that it's not important, because it is Back in the day when ships were being built from wood.
Speaker 1:From wood, the shipbuilders would take iron bands and they would put them around the ship to keep the boards together. And the name that was used for those iron bands they were called helps. It's interesting. Someone who has the gift or ministry of helps, of helping out, doesn't seem very flashy, but without it the ship can't float. You have all the boards in the world, but if they aren't held together in a proper way, they won't be buoyant and they won't carry things like a ship does.
Speaker 1:So it's important for us to think soberly and the fact that we need each other. In many of our cultures the notion of expressing the fact that you have a need is looked down upon. But in the kingdom of God, the fact that we need each other is actually a value, the fact that we need those who are visible in their expression, like a hand is visible, but we also need those who are behind the scenes, like a heart. You can't see the heart, but without a heart the body doesn't function. So my encouragement is to be in a place where we can appreciate how God has made us and how we blend together and how we need each other, and to express that is not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of meekness. That is not a sign of weakness, that's a sign of meekness, and meekness is a high quality.
Speaker 1:In the kingdom of God, those who are meek is that which is really tied to the word obedience or strength under control. It's a picture of a war horse who, when the rider falls off the horse, will stop because it's a meek horse, will stop because it's a meek horse. It is strength under control, even though that horse has the ability to trample the rider Because it's meek or it's been meeked. It's gone through the process of becoming meek. It stands over the rider. It's gone through the process of becoming meek. It stands over the rider until the rider can get back on it. It will even protect the rider from the arrows and the advancement of the enemy at its own risk, risking its own life A meek horse. So expressing the fact that we need each other is not weakness, it's meekness, and when we see a group of people that are meek, power under control, that's a significant force to be dealt with.
Speaker 1:As the kingdom of God advances, we need people who are sober-minded and meek.
Speaker 1:Blessed are the meek, for they Will inherit the earth.
Speaker 1:Let's pray, father, thank you For your words of encouragement, and I ask that you would take these thoughts today and you'd broadcast them, like the sower who sows seed, broadcasting the seed, and that it would fall on hearts and minds that are prepared to receive this and that it would bear good fruit. It would be used to plant and to water. Holy Spirit, I honor you, lord Jesus. We declare your greatness, your supremacy, and we bow before you and we offer ourselves to you that you would consume us with your mind so we'd see things accurately and function accordingly, and we declare these things to be so in your name and we say amen. We see things accurately and function accordingly, and we declare these things to be. So in your name, and we say amen, amen, amen, amen, amen. All right, folks, I love you. If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at liferonthefire, at gmailcom, or type in liferonthefire and look us up on the web. We'd love to hear from you. In the meantime, god bless you, adios amigos.