1 Corinthians 2:1,2—When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Caution! Beware of turning your own experiences into principles for others to follow. Experiences are wonderful when kept in the proper context. However, when our experiences take center stage instead of Jesus Himself, we are in danger of becoming junior holy spirits. The Bible tells us God imprisoned Paul and allowed him to suffer greatly in ministry. Spiritual giant that he was, Paul did not preach to others that they must suffer as he did to grow. He did not superimpose his experiences or his well-honed ministry skills on the Corinthians when he visited them. He came with a fresh determination to worship Christ with them on a daily visible basis. Are you living a Christian life that is rich because you are feeding each day from new times with the Lord? Or, are you surviving on the dwindling fat of what God did for you in the past?
"Wow, may I share what I am learning from my time with God!" beats the heck out of "Let me tell you what God did in my life twelve years ago." The example we export to those around us is determined by what we import from our Heavenly Father.
Inspiration
