When I was in the army, we would issue orders, and the most important part of any operations order was to have the mission correct. You could do everything right, but if you were going for the wrong objective, nothing good would be accomplished. And so it is important for us, for instance, in our homes, as we are nurturing and raising our children—what are we looking for? The problem with so many Christian upbringings is that we are looking for behaviour. We want our children to look good so we can be praised. And sincerely, we want them to stay out of trouble, and those are okay goals—as far as they go.
But that is not the goal, young people. That is not what we are aiming for in you. I tell you right now, we want you to know him, to know his glory and his power, to be in a saving relationship with him. We want him to live in you. We want faith, and then we want that to issue out in love. That is true religion. We can look great not having those things, but then we have nothing. We have to be aiming for faith and love.
What about our discipleship of new believers? Faith in Christ, faith in God and his Word—believing it, laying hold of it, living out the Word—and loving one another. What about our own growth in grace, individually? Let me tell you, I have come to realize that my life—and I really mean this—is about two things and two things only. It is not my outward achievements, or how I feel, or whether I am having a good time or a bad time. My life is about two things. I am learning to trust the Lord—and I am working on it. You may think,
Don’t you have it down by now?Sadly, no. But in my life, I am growing. The Lord gives me these experiences. I call them trials. He calls them blessings. And what he is doing is growing my faith. He is teaching poor me to trust in him. I am going to spend the rest of my life learning to trust him more and more. The other thing he is teaching me to do is to love other people—and it has been hard for me to learn. It is a lifelong journey.But our lives, friends, as Christians—that is what it is about. It is not about our outward circumstances. It is not about the size of our house, what kind of car we drive, how much money we make, whether other people like us, whether we are persecuted or not. Faith and love—if we have them, we have everything. Let them do what they will to us. We can not be conquered if we have faith and love. Without them, we are nothing. Faith and love are the apostolic measure of a healthy church, a healthy Christian. Those are the goals of a biblical ministry.1
Richard D. Phillips
6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you