In high school and college, I despised group projects. I hated having to rely on others for my grade, but since most students also had extracurricular activities or a job outside of school, it was difficult to coordinate schedules and invariably, I felt the need to complete the project in its entirety on the off chance that someone showed up unprepared. Unfortunately, word gets out and you become the most desirable project partner for all the wrong reasons.
Delegating has never been one of my strong suits as this tendency followed me into career, home, church and volunteer roles. I know I’m not alone. As eldest children, both my husband and I share this characteristic, but so do our siblings. Two of our children followed suit, and the third caught the bug as an adult. A strong work ethic is commendable, but it can become a stumbling block when I become prideful, thinking I am indispensable. Anything can become an idol when I allow myself to become the hero of the story.
“Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.
Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.”
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1th.4.11-12.NLT
I would like to say I’ve never enjoyed the idea of another’s dependence on me, even if their dependence was only a figment of my imagination. We all enjoy feeling needed but no one likes feeling beholden. I would be lying if I said I’ve never complained bitterly about being the only one taking responsibility in whichever capacity I’d agreed to serve. I’d love to say my heart was all in every time I said yes to an opportunity, but since Jesus is the only perfect person to have lived, only He can truthfully lay claim to any of these, and Peter gives the best explanation of how He, by His life, death, and resurrection, makes living a godly life not only possible, but probable for you and me.
“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.
We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.
These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”
2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2pe.1.3-4.NLT
By the new covenant in His blood, Jesus freed us from the power of sin and death, making victory possible and insuring eternity with God. Stewarding this knowledge means obedience, doing all the work required of us while taking none of the glory for ourselves. God is the author and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus completed the work of saving the world on the cross. (John 19:30) When He said, “It is finished,” nothing more needed to be done.
“God saved you by his grace when you believed.
And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.2.8-10.NLT
“Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God.
For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.
That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them.
For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.”
Hebrews 9:14-15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.9.15.NLT
When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they carried the Ten Commandments in the Ark of the Covenant with them, along with detailed instructions about offerings and sacrifices on special days, festivals to the Lord, requiring very specific gifts. Every person’s obedience or disobedience impacted the nation or tribe as a whole.
One specific command required each family to place produce from the first crop in their new homes in a basket to be presented to the priest at the place of worship designated by God. They were required to recite their pilgrimage from Egypt to Canaan and promise before God that they had obeyed exactly.
“Then you must declare in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘I have taken the sacred gift from my house and have given it to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows, just as you commanded me.
I have not violated or forgotten any of your commands.
I have not eaten any of it while in mourning; I have not handled it while I was ceremonially unclean; and I have not offered any of it to the dead.
I have obeyed the Lord my God and have done everything you commanded me.
Now look down from your holy dwelling place in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you swore to our ancestors to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
“Today the Lord your God has commanded you to obey all these decrees and regulations.
So be careful to obey them wholeheartedly.
You have declared today that the Lord is your God.
And you have promised to walk in his ways, and to obey his decrees, commands, and regulations, and to do everything he tells you.”
Deuteronomy 26:13-17 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/deu.26.13-17.NLT
The former covenant required perfect obedience and many animal sacrifices. This collective obedience would have driven me crazy because no matter how well I had performed, I would have always felt uncertain of the ability of others to perform up to par. I would always fear failure. I would forever be afraid of judgement. Jesus, by His perfect obedience to the law, made righteousness attainable and animal sacrifices obsolete by His one perfect sacrifice for all time.
“When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.”
Isaiah 53:11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.53.11.NLT
“The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves.
The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship.
If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.
But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year.
For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer.
Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins.
But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time.
Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.”
Hebrews 10:1-5, 11-12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.10.1-12.NLT
“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him.
This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.
And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”
Ephesians 1:18-20, 23 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.1.18-23.NLT
We who are in Christ- His body, the Church- are united in purpose until He comes again. Ours is a group assignment. Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. (Mark 16:15)
“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.”
Colossians 3:23-24 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/col.3.23-24.NLT
“As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Galatians 6:14 NLT
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