Welcome to the Victory Blog

Wouldn’t you like a church that was all about you? Imagine it: you could come whenever you wanted; church wouldn’t start without you. You would never have to volunteer if you didn’t want to—other people would always do that. No one would ever ask you to take your screaming baby out of the sanctuary. If anyone didn’t like it, they could leave. Service would be catered to you, your needs, your wants, your schedule. Sound good? Obviously not! How could any church function as a body if it ran in this way?

Unfortunately, we often get so caught up in our own world that we forget the fact that we are a part of a larger body. We get so focused on our own needs, wants and opinions. When this happens, we tend to get offended at others easily, and we start looking down at them because of their age, their culture, their education or some other way in which we see them as less valuable or honorable.

But this is not the path to which God has called us as followers of Jesus. Once we accept Christ as our savior, life isn’t just about “me” anymore. We have to start thinking about getting the selfishness out of us. The Apostle Paul addressed this very issue in his letter to the Philippian church. He wrote, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

If we truly seek to follow Christ, we have to remember that we are all members of His body, and every member of Christ’s body is worthy of honor. In fact, Paul also challenges us to honor more highly those who we usually perceive as being less honorable, just as we give more honor to the “lower” parts of our own bodies. As we interact with other members of the church body, we have to keep these words of Paul in mind. We cannot afford to let selfishness and pride entrap us and hinder the work that God is doing in and through our church.

This week, I strongly encourage you to look for ways to honor and value others in the body of Christ, particularly those who are different from you. Go ahead, move out of your comfort zones, and reach out in an honoring way to those of other generations, races, cultures, educational levels or economic levels. Imagine a church where everyone did that. What a profound impact it would have on our community! That’s who we’re called to be. So, let’s do it!

To listen to this week’s message, click here.