Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
Over the course of 10 verses in the second chapter of the Book of Philippians, Paul uses the personal pronoun “I” eleven times! (see Philippians 2:19-28). This is an important autobiographical part of Paul’s letter, but it also shows us the intimacy of this godly man’s relationship with both Jesus and with the saints at Philippi.
We also see that becoming a Christian doesn’t mean our unique personality gets toned down to be like every other Christian’s personality. In actuality, I become more me when I am in Jesus and when I am allowing the Holy Spirit to actively work in my life. At the moment of conception, the breath of God created a unique combination that makes me me. Then through the process of sanctification, my me becomes more of the me God created.
Look at these “I” statements in Philippians 2:
Paul has plans—I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon … I hope to send him to you as soon as I see how things go with me (vv. 19, 23)
Paul has aspirations—I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon (v. 24)
Paul has a mind—I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus (v. 25)
Paul has emotions—I am all the more eager (v. 28)
Intermingled with Paul’s personal pronouns are six explicit references to his Savior and God. All Paul’s aspirations, plans, friendships, and work were channeled through his intense desire for both himself and these saints to stand together around the throne of God (2:16-18; 1: 3-8).
So it should be for us too. I am most me when I am allowing the Holy Spirit to direct my plans, thoughts, emotions, words, and actions in a way that exalts Jesus.
My unique personality shines brightest and I feel the most alive when I am abiding in Jesus and submitting to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
The last time we were together, Pastor Caleb mentioned that I was the only one he knew that put hot sauce on my eggs. But then several of you let him know that you do that too. After the service, someone told me that they like Tabasco sauce on their pizza, which isn’t something I enjoy.
We all have different tastes. Our tastebuds are just one of the things that makes us unique creations. Unique means one-of-kind, no one else like me. We don’t need to add something like “very unique” because just by itself the word means that God made a once-in-eternity masterpiece when He made you and me.
It’s a good thing that we are unique. I see what you don’t see, and you see what I don’t see. There are some things I know how to do well, but perhaps you struggle doing them. That’s okay because there are things you can do that I won’t have the opportunity to do. Combined together we saints make an amazing team!
The apostle Paul understood the value of unique individuals.
Titus was probably the one who carried Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and then had the responsibility to teach those saints how to carry out what was in the letter (2 Corinthians 2:12-13; 7:6-7, 13-15; 8:6, 16-17). Titus was the pastor that Paul sent to Crete. Paul quoted a poet who said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:12). Titus was confident and bold to stand his ground for what he believed (Galatians 2:1-3).
Timothy was more soft-spoken and tenderhearted, so Paul had to encourage him more (1 Timothy 4:7, 12), but he was the one who could soothe troubled spots. Timothy stepped in to help behind the scenes (Acts 18:1-5) and he was the one Paul reached out to with his last letter form prison, asking Timothy to come to him (2 Timothy 4:12).
What a great thing it is to have unique saints in our lives!
One person—not matter how gifted—cannot do it all. Look at Moses in Exodus 18:13-18. Even an anointed team like the 12 apostles cannot to it all. Look at Acts 6:1-2.
These leaders recognized the need to other uniquely gifted people to come alongside them. Moses was advised to choose capable men. In other words, those with the ability to judge disputes wisely (Exodus 18:19-25). The apostles chose those who were full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3-6). The Greek word for wisdom (sophia) means someone with heaven-sent wisdom that also has the ability to apply that wisdom effectively.
Israel in the Old Testament and the Church in the New Testament would have been constricted if those other people hadn’t agreed to let their God-given abilities be used.
God’s talent + My ability = God-ability
In 2 Corinthians 8-9, Paul is specifically talking about the ability of people to give their offerings to help the growing church, but there is a phrase that I think is appropriate for any application of our gifts: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord (2 Corinthians 8:5).
When what we do is a cheerful “get to” and not an obligatory “got to” it is noticed by everyone. Those two chapters in 2 Corinthians are filled with words like cheerful, eagerness, and enthusiasm.
Deliver-ability to get the needed items to those who need them
But none of these work without availability. This is the attitude that makes our God-ability a blessing and not a chore.
There is a place in ministry for every Christian. When you are available, God will allow the talent that He has given you to be a blessing to the Church. You benefit, the other saints benefit, and the watching world sees a living witness that will draw them to Jesus.
Leaders would do well to remember that they lead a group of unique individuals. Let the unique gifts of those unique people be used in unique ways, and watch both the individuals and the organization grow!
“As Tyler Cowen wrote in The Free Press, ‘Whether or not you work in the AI sector, if you put any kind of content on the internet, or perhaps in a book, you are likely helping to train, educate, and yes, morally instruct the next generation of what will be this planet’s smartest entities. You are making them more like you—for better or worse.’ Now, maybe someone thinks, ‘I’ve hardly got any followers, who cares what I post? It probably won’t matter.’ But the principle means we should care. The philosopher Immanuel Kant famously offered his ‘categorical imperative’ as a test for ethical decisions: ‘Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.’ In other words, we should only do what we think would be good for everyone to do.” —Axis.org
How much good inside a day?
Depends how good you live ’em.
How much love inside a friend?
Depends how much you give ’em. —Shel Silverstein
A fantastic mini-biography of Otto J. Klink who went from being a Christian, to an atheist socialist, to failed presidential assassin, to a Pentecostal author and evangelist. Wow!
“My acceptance of the universe is not optimism, it is more like patriotism. It is a matter of primary loyalty. The world is not a lodging-house at Brighton, which we are to leave because it is miserable. It is the fortress of our family, with the flag flying on the turret, and the more miserable it is the less we should leave it. The point is not that this world is too sad to love or too glad not to love; the point is that when you do love a thing, its gladness is a reason for loving it, and its sadness a reason for loving it more.” —G.K. Chesterton
Marshall Segal said this about our daily Bible reading time, “I want to walk through a five-step prayer you could pray when you sit down with your Bible to meet with God. The five steps are built on an acronym for FEAST. Focus my mind; Enlighten my eyes; Address my sin; Satisfy my soul; Train my hands.”
“A man of character will make himself worthy of any position he is given.” —Mahatma Gandhi
“A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness. Successful people forget. They know the past is irrevocable. They’re running a race. They can’t afford to look behind. Their eye is on the finish line. Magnanimous people forget. They’re too big to let little things disturb them. They forget easily. If anyone does them wrong, they consider the source and keep cool. It’s only the small people who cherish revenge. Be a good forgetter. Business dictates it, and success demands it.” —Elbert Hubbard
“Leadership is not about being in charge, but about taking care of the people in your charge.” —Simon Sinek
Flowing Data has a fascinating look at how people spend their time during the day. Their adjustable chart shows activities by age, sex, and time of day. It reminds me of a blog post I shared about time management, where I noted, “You cannot add more Tick, Tocking! time to your day, but you can keep more of your day from Drip, Dropping! away.”
“We might think, ‘Well, hey, if I’m devoting myself all the time to looking out for others’ needs, who’s going to be looking out for mine?’ The Lord, of course, because He knows what you need even before you ask Him, and He has ways of meeting your needs that are more wonderful than you in your cleverness or strength could ever conjure or provide (cf. Matthew 6:25-34).” —T.M. Moore
“We all know that exercise makes us feel better, but most of us have no idea why. We assume it’s because we’re burning off stress or reducing muscle tension or boosting endorphins, and we leave it at that. But the real reason we feel so good when we get our blood pumping is that it makes the brain function at its best, and in my view, this benefit of physical activity is far more important—and fascinating—than what it does for the body. Building muscles and conditioning the heart and lungs are essentially side effects. I often tell my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain.” —Dr. John Ratey
T.M. Moore has a hard but good word for Christians: “If this day, and this expectation and hope [when we heard King Jesus say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’], are not the driving force for every aspect of our lives and work, then it is doubtful we have really understood the Good News of the Kingdom or received the salvation freely offered to us by the King. I say this again: If we are not motivated and driven, day by day, by the prospect of hearing ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ then we need to examine ourselves, whether we truly know the Lord of glory. That’s pretty hard language, I know, but let’s face the reality: If we have not submitted to Jesus as Lord of every area of our life, all the work we’ve been given to do, then we are still living for ourselves, not Him.” —T.M. Moore
God created each and every human being uniquely. We all come in different shapes and sizes, but we all share one thing in common: He created each of us with a unique personality and a unique gift package.
By unique, I truly mean that we are all one-of-a-kind creations that have never existed in all of history!
Here’s another thing we all have in common: We usually live in a comfort zone that is far smaller than our gift zone.
Living this way keeps us from soaring through life in the way that God intended. He wants each of us to know our gifts, and to use our gifts in a way that benefits our world and brings Him glory. It starts with believing that we are indeed gifted by our Creator. Then we must have the courage to step out of our comfort zone into the much larger gift zone God has given us.
I invite you to join me at Calvary Assembly of God as we explore what God has to say about the gifts He has given us, how we recognize and leverage those gifts, and how we soar far beyond the boundaries of our comfort zone!
You are a one-of-a-kind creation on purpose! God’s plan for your life is as unique as you are. I had the privilege of speaking at Country Chapel’s week-long revival services, and this is a clip from my sermon.
I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
What “began 90 years ago in Seattle as ‘an agency to supply candidates for the ministry to our churches and on the mission field,’” is now celebrating its 90th anniversary as Northwest University. It is really cool to see the hand of God supplying in miraculous ways for those who were so passionate about this endeavor.
“How thankful we are, Father God, for a crucified Redeemer. Nothing in heaven or earth is such an amazing wonder as this; nothing can compete with it for excellence. May all the many charms of sin be overcome by this ravishing love, which bubbles up in every drop of our Redeemer’s blood. How can we, with thoughts of the Cross alive in our hearts, sin against so much tenderness, compassion, and grace, and all the other perfections of You, our God, which sound so loud in our ears from the Cross of Jesus?” —Stephen Charnock
“Where shall language be found which shall describe Your matchless love, Your unparalleled love, toward the children of men? Your love is so vast and boundless that, as the swallow skims the water without diving into its depths, so all descriptive words merely touch the surface of Your love, while depths immeasurable lie beneath. … The most inspired mind must utterly fail to fathom this love. Here is love! And truly it is love that surpasses knowledge. Oh, let this love fill our hearts with adoring gratitude and lead us to practical manifestations of its power.” —Charles Spurgeon
When a leader admits a need for help to his or her team, it actually increases the level of respect the team has for that leader.
What does pornography have to do with loneliness? “Dr. Gary Brooks, a psychologist who has worked with people struggling with unwanted porn habits for the last 30 years, explains that ‘Anytime [a person] spends much time with the usual pornography usage cycle, it can’t help but be a depressing, demeaning, self-loathing kind of experience.’”
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their lights. … For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood firm. (Psalm 33:6, 9)
We literally live in, on, and through the breath of God. Everything was created as God spoke them into existence—including you and me.
Let’s personalize verse 9, making it our prayer and our declaration:
“For He spoke my name, and it was done; He commanded the plan for my life, and it stands firm even today!”
God created you on purpose and for a purpose. He knew exactly what He was doing when He breathed life into you, and His plan still stands firm. You are invaluable in God’s perfect plan❣️
God made you uniquely YOU! You have been made on purpose and for a purpose. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“The wise recognize before the fight that adversity will come and therefore are not surprised by it. The wise recognize in the fight that adversity is a formidable foe and thus steel themselves for a long, hard struggle to the death. The wise recognize after winning a fight that the war is not over and so never let down their guard nor release their weapons.” —Dick Brogden, in Proverbs: Amplified and Applied
Astronomers have discovered planet-sized objects that are puzzling the best minds. In fact, they have had to create a new category for these objects: Jupiter Mass Binary Objects (JuMBOs). What is baffling the brightest minds is that these planets don’t orbit a star but appear to be gravitationally bound to other JuMBOs. My favorite line is this one: “The new phenomenon challenges current frameworks explaining how stars and planets form within nebula, with astrophysicists claiming such objects should not exist.” There is at least one who isn’t baffled: The One who created JuMBOs along with everything else in our universe.
T.M. Moore is in the midst of a series of posts about the Christian and the government. They are excellent! Here is just a short sample—“The Christian understands that government is a servant of God for good, and that God, therefore, must define the terms of goodness by which a government fulfills its appointed task. As Paul reminds us, the Law of God is holy and righteous and good (Romans 7:12). It is important, therefore, that Christians understand the Law of God and consider the best ways of bringing its influence to bear in the arena of public policy. … Public policy is not about what governments can do, but what they should do, that is, if they are to fulfill their callings as God’s servants for good. When it comes to applying the Law of God to public policy, Christians must make this first principle foundational in the logic with which they approach the work of influencing and shaping public policy.”
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong.” —Mahatma Gandhi
Leaders are naturally wired to be either confident or humble. Both kinds of leaders need to remain coachable. Greg and I unpacked this idea on this episode of The Craig And Greg Show, and I also discuss it in greater depth in my book Shepherd Leadership.
Listen to the audio-only version of this podcast by clicking on the player below, or scroll down to watch the video.
When was the last time you noticed your team? Not just on a surface level like saying hello in the hallway, but really truly paying attention to what’s going on with your team. Noticing is easy to do, but it does require you to spend time doing it. It’s impossible to see what your team is doing locked inside your office, so get out there and notice!
[0:17] Kids on the playground demonstrate an important leadership attribute.
[1:43] Leaders sometimes get too engaged in their work—how do we keep this from happening?
[3:48] People are dying to be noticed!
[6:17] What happens when we do or don’t notice the uniqueness of our teammates?
[9:54] Leaders need to know the difference between windows and mirrors.
[13:25] How our teams reciprocate for their leaders who notice them.
[14:45] There are some huge and lasting benefits when leaders create a culture of curiosity.
[17:11] Greg challenges leaders to learn a leadership lesson from Jesus.
[19:20] We need to build noticing into our weekly schedules.
[21:07] One group that all of should notice and celebrate: Our veterans and the family members of fallen vets.
Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.
Over the course of 10 verses in the second chapter of the Book of Philippians, Paul uses the personal pronoun “I” eleven times! (see Philippians 2:19-28). This is an important autobiographical part of Paul’s letter, but it also shows us the intimacy of this godly man’s relationship with both Jesus and with the saints at Philippi. 
Craig T. Owens 