Stand Strong in the Word
Stand Strong in the Word is a weekly bible study that teaches through the Bible verse by verse in chronological order. For more information, visit www.standstrongministries.org.
Stand Strong in the Word
#299 "The Burden of Spiritual Leadership" (2 Corinthians 12:11-21)
Have you ever felt the weight of leading others in faith—and wondered if the struggle is worth it? In 2 Corinthians 12:11–21, Paul opens up about the cost of true spiritual leadership: self-sacrifice, heartache, and unwavering commitment to the good of others. Today, we will learn from Paul’s humility and perseverance in ministry.
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Have you ever felt the weight of leading others in faith and wondered if the struggle is worth it? At 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, paul opens up about the cost of true spiritual leadership self-sacrifice, heartache, an unwavering commitment to the good of others. Today we will learn from Paul's humility in perseverance and ministry. So turn to 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, and let's stand strong in the word together. Well, hey there, my friends, welcome to Stand Strong in the Word podcast. Jason Heman is with you, as always. Blessed to be with you, guys, as we continue our study here in the book of 2 Corinthians and we're going to be looking specifically at verses 11 through 21. And the title here is the Burden of Spiritual Leadership.
Speaker 1:So buckle up, because if you are serving in your church or in a ministry, in your community or nationally, or have done mission work, small group leader or as we have many of you out there who are in full-time ministry, let me just say you guys are my heroes. I appreciate and I'm so thankful for the people that God has raised up and that you have forsaken all to follow Christ for the sake of the gospel. I am so grateful for you and I love when I get to be out there engaging in ministry and praying with people and teaching, and just I just came from a great ministry opportunity ministering to a bunch of student pastors and just the conversations that I have with them. I love talking with people who are pastors, who have a shepherd's heart, and if you're struggling out there and you right now, as you're coming to this podcast, or maybe you saw the title and something just triggered within you that I need to listen to this, whatever the case may be, if you are a long standing listener or new, we are so grateful that you guys are joining me to study God's word together. Because, let me just say this right off the bat we dive in.
Speaker 1:If you are in ministry, it is tough, it's not easy, because your responsibility is to care for people that are in your flock, that have emotional issues, that have theological questions, that maybe have doubts struggling in their marriage. Someone's dying, someone has died. You're preparing for a funeral. You're gonna also celebrate funeral. You're going to also celebrate. You know this has happened to me multiple times in the ministry where one weekend you're doing a funeral, the next weekend you're doing a wedding and just just maintaining the morning and the joyfulness and also raising up the next generation and working with families. I mean, there's a lot that goes into it.
Speaker 1:Whether you're in a small church doing everything yourself, or you're in a large church and you have a lot of people who are assisting you, there is a burden when it comes to spiritual leadership, and I want you guys to know that. So let me just say this Also. I wasn't planning on this, but I just want to share this out there, knowing a lot of the faces that I've gotten to know that have invited me into your churches because you've listened to this podcast and you want to partner with Stan Strong Ministries and to bring God's word and to shepherd and to serve alongside of you. If you are struggling right now and whatever burden you're going through and you need somebody who's outside of your frame of reference or, as I always say in the ministry, the four wall syndrome, because you're so fixated by what's happening in your church that you lose sight of what's happening in reality you can contact me. My staff will make sure that we can set up a time if you need a Zoom conversation. We can't take all of the requests, obviously, so we will do our best, and so sometimes we have to base it off of the need of the individual. But if you're really, really struggling, you can contact us at info at stanstrongministriesorg. Go to stanstrongministriesorg, check out all the stuff there. But we want to know that you understand how much we love you and are praying for you. So, with that being said, as always, if you've missed any previous podcasts, check those things out as we're leading into now verse 11, where we left off and this is something that I always just like to link so we don't lose track contextually.
Speaker 1:But in verse 10 of chapter 12 of 2 Corinthians, he says For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities, for when I am weak, then I am strong. Now people oftentimes will take this as they do with the Philippians 4.13. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. You know when it's like. You know Christian schools, you know they put the tats out there and that's all fine and dandy, but the reality is it goes far deeper than that. This is a man who's suffering for Christ.
Speaker 1:But one of the things that I want to highlight, that's going to feed into verses 11 through 21, is this Christ-centric orientation of Paul's theology, when he'd use the phrase for the sake of Christ. That's his grounding, and so anybody, all of us obviously are ministers of the gospel. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, you are an ambassador of Christ. But there's no doubt that some people, god has, you know, given, through his spirit, spiritual gifts, and there's different offices and responsibilities that we all have. Just like in marriage, there's different responsibilities, but we're one and we're to unite and we're to work together and we're to have the mind of Christ and we're to call upon the Lord with those who also do so from the perspective of a pure heart. And so, as we do this, we look around and thinking instead of me judging others or wishing I had what they had or they're better than me, we accept what God has given us. And so, in this case, whatever you're called to do, whatever you're currently doing right now, one thing that you and I have there's a lot, but there's one thing that I want for us to understand as we get into this burden of a spiritual leader, is our orientation. What that means, not sexual orientation, nothing that the modern world uses today, but that we are centered on the sake of Christ.
Speaker 1:Paul said in Philippians 3, but whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. So he's saying here for the sake of Christ, I'm content with what he faces, all the hardship. And so this phrase speaks of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, meaning at the end of the day I was doing it this morning as I'm praying for burdens that I have in the ministry, needs that, whether the ministry has, or decisions I have to make, or deadlines that I have to make, I'm like Lord. I love you because you first loved me. I have a union in Christo. I am in you, I've been, you know, just like when we look at Romans 6, I died with you, I've been buried and then you know, with the baptism of Christ and raised to walk in newness of life Romans 6, 4. And it's no longer I who live, but it's Christ who lives in me. So when he frequently uses this phrase for the sake of Christ, the theme oftentimes is around suffering. So you have to remember that and we have to believe in that, even when we doubt it, the theology of, it's true that when we do things for the glory of God, he will get us through this. And so when I asked you guys in the opening have you ever felt the weight of leading others in the faith? If you've been doing ministry for quite some time, the answer is a resounding yes. So I pray this time as we dive in now. This will be very helpful for you.
Speaker 1:I just talked to a pastor recently who said to me I'm at my wits end, I don't know what else to do. My friends, have you been there? Are you discouraged right now? Do you want to give up? I was talking to another group at one of the speaking events that were in full-time ministry and one of them had been there almost 20 years and both of me and this other individual, we both looked at each other and said that's very rare, praise the Lord. And it's not like. What's the secret sauce? I asked him. I said you're doing this for the sake of Christ, because there's no doubt that there's times and hardships and weaknesses and calamities. As Paul said, you want to give up. So here in verse 11, let's read this passage now in verses 11 through 21.
Speaker 1:And this is a concern that Paul has for the Corinthian church and I do not want us to dismiss this and overlook this, because in ministry we are always concerned for the people that God has called us to minister to, when I walked away and I don't mean that in a non-caring way, but when God had moved me out of the local church as a pastor to do more national ministry and run Stan Strong Ministries. I'll be honest, even still, to this day we're 14 years removed, almost I still long to connect with certain people that God had put in my life and check on them through the years. And many of them still refer to me as one of their pastors. And I love that, you know, because I care for them and I want to make sure. Some of them, you know, move to different states and you know you kind of lose touch and then you know God, you know, lays them on your heart and you check on them. You of them, you know, move to different states and you know you kind of lose touch and then you know God, you know, lays them on your heart and you check on them, you text them, you send them an email, sometimes jump on a phone call, sometimes on my travels, I try to try to coordinate times I can meet with them and that's just such a blessing. And because you have a concern, and when they let you know some of them. Hey, my son walked away from the faith. Hey, I just want you to know, can you be praying for our granddaughter because she says she's a lesbian now and your heart breaks.
Speaker 1:So I want you to understand as we look at this passage. This is the heart of paul. This is a burden that he has for the corinthians. Verse 11 I have been a fool. You forced me to, for I ought to have been commended by you, for I was not at all inferior to these super apostles, even though I am nothing. The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches? Except that I myself did not burden you. Forgive me this wrong.
Speaker 1:So let's pause there and break down these first few verses. So what we're going to see in verses 11 through 21 is that Paul is openly addressing worry, concern and his coming visit, and he wants to meet certain expectations. But he doesn't want the word anxiety to ruin his opportunity to meet with them, and so he's voicing this apprehension regarding the possibility of sin running rampant among the Corinthians in verse 20. So he doesn't want to worsen the situation by him coming, but he knows he needs to Now this. Let me just give you some insight.
Speaker 1:If you read my book Challenging Conversations, when I address a lot of the controversial topics in the church and I address, you know there's a lot of avoiders and aggressors in the church and I'm trying through the book to help people see us in the power of the Holy Spirit, as an advocator of God's truth. That we stand in the gap, that we become conversant Christians that we're not afraid to jump into challenging conversations, but we don't like them oftentimes. And conversant Christians that were not afraid to jump into challenging conversations, but we don't like them oftentimes, and I'll be the first to admit that. But you trust the Lord.
Speaker 1:And one of the things that I learned in writing the book is exactly this passage, matter of fact, the totality of Paul's document, you know, or his two books writing to the Corinthians. He expresses anxiety, he expresses being uncomfortable, he expresses the challenges, he expresses the burdens. And one of the things that I learned from that in applying to the book was that is telling people truthfully say, hey, look, I'm, I'm very uncomfortable with this right now. I don't want to have this conversation with you, not because I don't care for you, it's because I'm worried that it might go south and I can't imagine living life without you or you being hurt by me, or to know that I've done something, maybe unintentionally, to jeopardize our relationship. That's what Paul's saying here and then in verse 21, we're going to see is it can lead him to even possible sorrow, like it saddens him to think that. So when this phrase, when he says, even though I am nothing I love this because in the Greek term the statement is I kai oiden imai and so here in the English it comes off pretty harsh because it connotes being a nobody like you don't matter, and it is possible. A lot of commentators, you know, debate this as to whether this is a phrase that Paul is using, that he heard that his enemies are saying about him.
Speaker 1:But the bottom line is Paul understood. Remember that he comes graciously. From the very beginning. He says I don't come with persuasive speech, I'm not trying to be something that I'm not. If you go back to 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 8 through 10, he says last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me, for I am the least of the apostles unworthy to be called the apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me. And then you see, in the same letter here now his second letter, chapter three, verse four through six, he says such is the confidence that we have, through Christ, toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit, for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. End quote.
Speaker 1:So yes, paul was aware of what his enemies were saying about him, but not to the degree to where he's like I need to change gears, I need to get a different PR person and change my look and my tone and rebrand myself. He's like, by the grace of God, I am who I am. I understand where I came from. I was a persecutor of the church, remember. He says I'm the chief of sinners. And so when he recognizes that, again, for the sake of Christ, we can't neglect that. He is walking in humility.
Speaker 1:So, my friends, when you look at the people that God has called you to minister to, yes, you have a gift or gifts. Yes, you have a calling. Yes, you have a responsibility or gifts. Yes, you have a calling. Yes, you have a responsibility. And yes, you should have confidence, knowing that God has equipped you and given you the tools, if you will, the resources, the strength, the love, the patience in Christ, to love and care for these people. But you're not the answer. I'm not the answer.
Speaker 1:And oftentimes in ministry, we pride ourself what schools we've gone to, what degrees we have, how many followers we have, how many clicks we get. All of this stuff that doesn't qualify you. I'm sorry it doesn't. It doesn't. And you know what. You shouldn't care. Praise God if you were called to give a message and a lot of people heard it. But let's not kid ourselves, though. With a pastor or somebody who is daily grinding it out with somebody or a family and there's a crisis at hand, and then we just remotely in our studios, put out content and we're like dude, 300,000 people love this. Okay, that's great, but what we're seeing here is we have to recognize that when we're coming with God's word, when we're preaching the gospel for the sake of Christ, we need to make sure that it's not about us but it's about him.
Speaker 1:Now look at here, in verse 12. He says the signs of a true apostle were performed among with utmost patience that's key with signs and wonders in mighty works. So Paul discusses the first of the three contentious issues. The Corinthians had with him the markings of a true apostle. So remember, they were challenging his very credentials that he received from Christ himself. And so what Paul does is he gives a threefold description of the acts of a true apostle. Remember, it's all about Christ, it's for his sake. And if you go back to Romans, chapter 15, 18 through 19, he spells it out even there he says for I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum, I may be fulfilling the ministry of the gospel of Christ. So let's understand these three different terms, because they mean different things and they're important for us to understand contextually Signs, wonders and mighty works.
Speaker 1:Now, the Greek term here for signs is Shemaiah and it means like a marker or a token, and it's all about authentication, meaning confirming the message. So the messenger, whether it be a prophet, a seer, an apostle, like Paul in this case, how can they be able to look back and see these tokens, these markers, to confirm if this is a person of God? So there's a lot that would go into it, their consistency, their way of living. You know, thus saith the Lord. And then, of course, wonders, the teros, the Greek term to arouse all our fear with the people. And then the mighty works and the Greek term is a common one, dunamis, revealing the divine power, meaning the acts of God, like when he created the heavens and the earth.
Speaker 1:In fact, hebrews 2, 4 speaks to this. This is while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. When you see Luke recording in Acts 14, paul did signs, it says in verse one. Now, at Incanium, they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So they remained for a long time speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. So you see God using Paul, and this is a confirmation. This is Paul laying out these threefold markers to confirm that he is truly sent by the Lord. And what's so amazing is that, see, we can share these things with people to be confident in the calling that God has given us.
Speaker 1:But you're not doing it boastfully. You're not doing it pridefully. Paul didn't boast about being the one who performed the miracles. Instead, he writes in a passive voice. What that means is that it's all about emphasizing the power of God in a broken vessel. And so oftentimes, when you and I are communicating to people in the ministry, I guarantee, when you put the weight on yourself and thinking that you need to solve it or you need to try to win people over or grow your ministry by saying how amazing you are and putting so much time and effort in the product rather than the person meaning being sanctified, being grounded, you will be burned out. You'll turn to sin. You'll turn to things to supplement what's lacking spiritually. I see it all the time.
Speaker 1:So I love verse 13 where Paul says for in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong. Now there's a hint of sarcasm here, but not to the degree where Paul's being rude and abusive. He's conveying to the Corinthians that his only mistake was not asking them for money. Remember that they made a big deal about that, because to be a legit professional you needed to be sponsored, basically by people, and Paul didn't want to do that because he didn't want to be a burden. But if you go back to chapter 11, verse nine, remember he refrained from asking for money because he did not want that to be a burden. This is something we developed, you know, in this, in chapter 11, verses seven through 12.
Speaker 1:And so when he was originally stating going back to 1 Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 15, because it's important for us to understand what he's saying right here in verse 13, let's go back. He says but I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision, for I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. I mean, so think about that. If this is the only thing that they can use against Paul was the fact that he didn't ask for money because he didn't want to be a burden and he was trusting that God would provide, and he was working hard. I mean, remember he was bivocational. Then he's like forgive me for this wrong. I was just trying to make it easier on you guys, and I didn't want to take you for granted.
Speaker 1:And then, in verse 14, now, it says here for the third time I'm ready to come to you and I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours, but you, for children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. Now I want to stop, though, and just highlight a few things, because oftentimes people take some of this stuff out of context or are not necessarily understanding what Paul's saying, because there's two things here. One, paul mentions this third time going to them, and then this phrase about children are not obligated to save up for their parents. What is he talking about? Because he says but parents for their children. So does that mean children are not to provide for their parents when they make money. Okay.
Speaker 1:So the first thing we have to understand is, if you look at verse 14, there is a transition, if you look at the context of the letter, because he's gonna go from verse 14 now all the way into chapter 13, verse 10, and he's gonna to be emphasizing his apostleship to the Corinthians. Now Paul could have easily said I'm done, I'm not your apostle anymore. You guys are making it far more difficult. I'm not going to submit or be subordinate to your criterion of an apostle. He, instead, is being encouraged, despite how difficult things have been, because he knows, for the sake of Christ. He knows what God has called him to do and he wants to help their faith. And that's part of the process.
Speaker 1:As any one of us know, in ministry, you are called you and I. You're somebody who's a difficult student, but you're called to help them. You have a strong-willed child. You're not going to abandon them. You're not who's a difficult student, but you're called to help them. You have a strong willed child. You're not going to abandon them, you're not gonna give up on them. And that was Paul. And so in the context here, we gotta keep this in mind because he's focusing, going back to 1 Corinthians 4,. You have many instructors, but you don't have many fathers. He is seeing himself as a father to them who has a right to discipline them, as an apostle, and he cares enough to go there with them because he wants to help them grow in their faith, to ensure that they're living out faithfully and avoiding influence of these false teachers who don't care about them. And in the process, just like a good parent, you don't want division among the siblings, among your children, you don't want them to continue to be disruptful. You want them to be unified, and that takes effort.
Speaker 1:Remember, the Bible says Paul wrote these very words as much as it depends on you, live at peace with all people in Romans, chapter 12. And so in verses 14 through 18, paul is gonna be addressing this tension, this second contentious issue that he has with them, and again it's about financial support. And remember, at the heart of it, paul was not like these super apostles who are charlatans, are taking advantage of them, and some of them probably knew it, but they just, they thought it was awesome because these are popular speakers and to be associated with them, that's all good. And so the intentionality about spreading the gospel was not there, and yet that was Paul's heart. So the first thing to address in this passage now is this phrase third time, I'm ready to come to you. Now.
Speaker 1:Why is this, in a sense, kind of problematic? Again, not on Paul's end, it's just our interpretation, because there are some commentaries who believe that Paul is literally saying I'm coming to you a third time, when most of what we actually do see was there was only one time. Now, in order to kind of get a backdrop here, we got to remember that in Acts 18, verses one through 18, remember, paul established the church in Corinth and now, based on his first visit in his first letter, obviously there was painful issues that he was addressing to them after that, okay, and that required him to have to exercise his apostolic authority and also address a lot of the questions that they had. And so this exercising of his authority in this discipline that he was addressing in the congregation, you're thinking, okay, was it just that one time visit or was there another time that Paul made a second visit to Corinth? Now, some commentators believe that if he had done this, his visit probably was sometime with the Corinthians the second time, that is, during his stay in Ephesus before he wrote this second letter that we can see in Acts, chapter 19, verses 1 through 14. Now, another interpretation is that Paul is merely expressing his readiness to visit, but he was only able to see them that one time. I don't know what is the right answer, but I just wanted to share that with you guys, based on what some of the commentators say.
Speaker 1:Now, the second thing in this passage that oftentimes can be overlooked or taken out of context is that phrase, as I said earlier, parents for their children, meaning providing for them. Now, the biblical theology study Bible says says Paul defended the right of apostles to be supported by their spiritual children, and that's important because that's the context. Remember, he's a spiritual father, so he's not actually giving you a mandate in your home life about hey, get your 401k in order, make sure that you have retirement for your kids. Your kids are not to provide for you, you're to provide for them entirely, and so when they get to even a certain age, in their twenties or thirties, you're like well, the Bible says that parents need to provide for their children.
Speaker 1:That's not what he's saying here. He's talking about himself, that he is a father figure and he's to provide for himself, so he's not a burden to them and also it's not just financially. He, spiritually, is to provide for them. He's to give them, just like us as parents, what we are to give to our children. We're not expecting our children to pay their bills at a young age, to bring in the discipline, to give direction to the family, and that's what Paul's applying here. They're young in the faith and he's making sure that he's covering all of his bases so that he is not imposing anything on them.
Speaker 1:And the other thing we have to understand in this culture was that if you had patrons, if you had people who were supporting you financially so that you're seeing as a professional, you become subordinate to them because you're dependent on them for your living. Because you're dependent on them for your living, and Paul didn't want to have that. As a father to them, he was seeking to provide these resources so that he can be involved in their lives the way that they needed him to be. Notice now here, in verse 15, he says I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? But granting that, I myself did not burden you. I was crafty, you say and got the better of you by deceit. Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? I urged Titus to go and sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?
Speaker 1:So notice, as we do often on this podcast, if you look at the context, this feeds into verse 14, what Paul's talking about loving them, being sacrificial, carrying the burden, not taking advantage of them, Even when Titus goes, titus and this brother that he mentions, they are not like these super apostles. Now, remember, it was common for the writers in this time, in the first century, to express love being reciprocated. We do it today Like, hey, thank you for your kindness. I really appreciate that. So Paul was expressing his love to them because they bought into the lie from the super apostles that he and Titus were exploiting them, that they were stealing money. Remember, if you go back to the money that was raised for the poverty stricken churches but Paul defended back in second Corinthians, chapter eight, verse 16, he says but thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. Meaning when Titus and the brother came to minister to you guys and collect that money, they were not taking advantage of you and, yes, the money was being put to use. We're not stealing it from you.
Speaker 1:So this is what Paul's expressing and this is why he goes back to saying parents need to provide for the children, not the other way around. Is I felt in my heart was when I came to minister to you guys, that I wanted one thing and one thing only your love, your affection. And notice now what he says in verse 19. He says have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved, for I fear that perhaps when I come, I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish, that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit and disorder over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual morality and sensuality that they have practiced. So we see that Paul asserts that his intention was not to showcase superiority, but rather it was about protecting them, protecting their reputation, protecting them from these false apostles. That's key. Now notice at the very end, in verses 20 and 21,.
Speaker 1:What was the burden that Paul had when he was going to come to them? That many of them were still again quarreling, the jealousy, a lot of this division. In fact, clement in 80, 95, he addresses many of the sins that Paul mentions here that later in church history was actually rampant in Corinth. He says this for this reason righteousness and peace are far from you. So Clement tells us, decades later, after Paul's ministry to the Corinthians, after he's beheaded, after he's been martyred, decades later, after Paul's ministry to the Corinthians, after he's beheaded, after he's been martyred, a lot of the Corinthians go back to their sin. And that was a concern, that was a problem. And any one of you guys listening right now, if you're in ministry and you have people right now you're working with and you know your people, you're gonna know there's quarreling, there's hostility, there's slander, there's gossip, there's hostility, there's slander, there's gossip, there's conceit, there's disorder. And just like Paul had to confront this sin and said if you guys don't repent, then there's going to be discipline, any true leader listening, you guys know the same.
Speaker 1:It's not easy One commentator says this to turn around a sinful church in the midst of a heathenism was virtually impossible. Without the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. The transformation of these Christians would not be instant, for God's omnipotent power often works gradually. These early believers were but babes in the Lord Jesus, and that's true for us, my friends.
Speaker 1:The burden that we oftentimes have is when you see people who just are taking their sweet time. They're not really caring or they're just being ravished and destroyed by these sins in their life. They keep coming back saying I need help, I want to stop, I need this, I need you to do that. It can become discouraging, but, like Paul, we don't give up because it's for the sake of Christ.
Speaker 1:So, whatever sins are going on in your family life, in your church, in the ministry that you're serving in, make sure that you're taking those before God and that you're properly addressing those with the leadership that God has raised up.
Speaker 1:And if you're one of them, you are called to bring that humility, to bring that patience, but not to compromise, not to be sold out for the wrong reasons, not to be subordinate to things or movements or ideas or ideologies or these influencers that don't have the heart of the people right near and dear to them that they are actually trying to impose certain things that you know is a violation to the consecration and the relationship that you have with people that God has called you to minister to my friends. Care and love. Carry that burden, but do it for the sake of Christ, so I pray that's been very helpful and encouraging to you guys today. Thank you guys for listening. As always, leave us a review, share with others this podcast so people just like you will continue to stand strong in the word of God Until next time. Keep standing strong, my friends.