I have mentioned several times that I am in a study in 1 Peter on Tuesday. Today we are going over chapter 5, next week, if all goes as planned, we will summarize the book. In 1 Peter 4:10 – 11 Peter tells us that we are to steward those gifts of God’s grace. In 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4, Paul tells us that the purpose of those gifts are to build one another up.
When you open the Word of God you will observe things there that I will not. You will see them through the lens of your gifts and the experience of your walk with God. If you do not share what you see with those around you, they are deprived of your insight and you are deprived of their input into what you have seen.
Yesterday I experienced that with a close friend. I shared some of what I had seen in 1 Peter 5 (I wrote about it briefly here and here) with him over coffee and a bagel. His response was that I had given him a new tool to use with men. That was not my intent. I was just sharing some things I saw, but where he was in his ministry, they were what he needed. I have been on the receiving end of the same kind of thing from him several times.
The point is, we all need to be sharing what we see. It is not OK to simply read something, think a thought, and call the experience good. First of all the process of sharing with someone drives the learning deeper into our souls. Perhaps more importantly – this is tentative – if the Holy Spirit has shown me something in the Word and I do not share it, how is that not quenching the Spirit? We are not supposed to do that.
Yesterday I experienced that with a close friend. I shared some of what I had seen in 1 Peter 5 (I wrote about it briefly here and here) with him over coffee and a bagel. His response was that I had given him a new tool to use with men. That was not my intent. I was just sharing some things I saw, but where he was in his ministry, they were what he needed. I have been on the receiving end of the same kind of thing from him several times.
The point is, we all need to be sharing what we see. It is not OK to simply read something, think a thought, and call the experience good. First of all the process of sharing with someone drives the learning deeper into our souls. Perhaps more importantly – this is tentative – if the Holy Spirit has shown me something in the Word and I do not share it, how is that not quenching the Spirit? We are not supposed to do that.
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