God provide what is needed for a life that pleases Him

Have you ever complained about the difficulty in living a godly life? Have you ever encountered a situation where proving your righteous living was critical to defending your faith? How did you deal with such situations? Did you give in to your personal decision or you allowed the restraint in the word of God to control your reactions? I have heard many believers complain of the difficulty and challenges of being human. Some even go as far as to say that if God is in their shoes, He will understand that it is not easy to be a human. As ridiculous as this may sound, God wore the shoe of humanity years ago. Jesus, God’s express image, who is the image of the invisible God, “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him” (‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:16‬). For God to reconcile man to Himself, His own begotten Son paid the price as a man. As a man Jesus suffered in the hands of man until he was killed, yet, Jesus did not sin. No iniquity was found in Him! (1 Peter 2:22).

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭1:3‬)

So, if God has experienced all that it feels to be human and yet overcome, why does He not make things easier for us? The truth is all the provision we need to live for God and to live righteous lives even in a sinful and perverse world has been made available by God. 2 Peter 1:3 put it this way: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” God has through His word made available provisions to help our walk in this world. It is important that we understand that this provision is through our knowledge of Him. This implies that a believer who fails to seek the knowledge of God from scripture is likely to miss this great provision. We hear part of this provision every time we listen to the genuine word of God. However, it is important that we spend time reading and reflecting on scripture on a personal level.

Until we become students of the word, we will always give excuses for our errors and sins. We cannot compromise on our relationship with God by indulging in things that scripture warns us to stay away from. Have a schedule for your own Christian growth. Be ready and willing to commit part of your day into reading,  memorization and prayer. It is so critical that we live godly lives so our light will shine even in a dark world. When God gave His commandments to the Israelites, He was specific about the people having His words around them everyday. In Deuteronomy‬ ‭6:6‭-‬9‬, He told them, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Why was God interested in having His commands in multiple representations around the lives of the people? So that the people will always have His words close to them.

Never think it is too much to spend quality time with scripture. We need the word of God as a daily compass as we navigate the intricacies of life. Since we have been provided all that we need to live to please God, we will be judged if we fail to live our lives to please Him. God sees everything,  our struggles,  challenges and weaknesses. Instead of glorifying our weaknesses, let’s be intentional about living God’s words and eschewing evil. You are called for His glory and goodness. Let your life reflect Him!

Let your eating and drinking glorify God!

There is a cultural association to what we consume. In fact, this seems to assert the fact that one man’s meat is another’s poison. There are foods that I cannot stand and cannot even watch people eat just because it is culturally inappropriate to me. My lack of interest in those foods does not make those foods bad. Most importantly, whatever we eat should be healthy for the body. Paul also admonishes us to ensure that our choice of foods does not raise a stumbling block for others (1 Corinthians 10:31). Healthy meals are good for the body and help the consumer to receive the appropriate nutrients in their right proportion. God is interested in you and expects us to be interested in our health and well-being. 

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31).

A healthy body makes a healthy Christian but an unhealthy body brings decay and groanings. In view of this, God had admonished us that “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Our food consumption should be God-glorifying. Gluttony, desire for junk foods, and other eating patterns that ultimately causes one to be at the mercy of health professionals or develop excessive health complications is not God-glorifying. Paul advised the believers in Corinth to “eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience.” (1 Corinthians 10:25‭-‬28).

In other words, the believer has been given the freedom of choice, but we should ensure that our choices are glorifying God but not raising stumbling blocks to others and ultimately causing us health-related problems. When we understand this, it helps us to make God-informed decisions. Knowing that “I have the right to do anything but not everything is beneficial” and “I have the right to do anything but not everything is constructive” (1 Corinthians 10:23) helps to moderate what we consume. Further, knowing that “no one should seek their own good, but the good of others” (1 Corinthians 10:24) put a desire to consume that which will cause others to thrive. Remember that when our way of eating causes us to be unwell, it affects the people around us. Let God be glorified in the way you eat. Take care of the body, it is the temple of God!

Giving to the needy

There are many scriptures that clearly show that we have a responsibility to do something.  For example, anytime Jesus says “when you do something” it implies that He expects us to do that. In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches on giving, praying and fasting and on each of these topics, Jesus begins by saying “when you give”, “when you pray”,and “when you fast”. We have to give to the poor, we have to pray and we have to fast. Let us focus on giving to the poor. Giving to the poor has suddenly become “fashionable” among many believers. I do appreciate all the amazing organisations that are doing great jobs in different parts of the world. Their support and donations have changed lives, transformed societies and helped to put people back on their feet.

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing (Matthew 6:3)

There are also individuals who have taken upon themselves to transform people from poverty to riches. These people go all out to assist the poor and the needy and some offer scholarships and bursaries for children of lower income background to have quality lives. These people, whether believers or not, are obeying God’s command of giving to the poor and will definitely be blessed. Jesus gives believers a warning about giving: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3). How can I give without my left hand knowing? Jesus’ explanation is that, “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.” (Matthew 6:2).

Jesus admonishes us to be careful that we do not become pleasers with our righteousness. Ultimately, we all want to receive blessings from God and have eternal rewards for our giving to the needy. When we give to the poor, it should have eternal rewards as well as earthly rewards. Therefore we should not let our giving be a “public show” but with an understanding that our Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward us (Matthew 6:4). How do we give in secret? First, have an understanding that it is our responsibility to help the needy among us. When we take our bath, we do not stand in the shower and take pictures to inform the world that we have taken a bath. It would be so ridiculous to find people updating their bathing statuses on social media. With an understanding that bathing is good for us, we do it without inviting the world to our bathrooms. Can we try this with our giving to the poor?

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.(Philippians 4:8)

When we give, we should be mindful not to seek the praises of men but the blessings of the Father.