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Built Up or Puffed Up?
ccfarmgirl
ccfarmgirl on Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:45 am[b]Puffed Up or Built Up?
Posted: 09 Sep 2009 10:41 AM PDT
Mere knowledge causes people to be puffed up (to bear themselves loftily and be proud), but love (affection and goodwill and benevolence) edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow [to his full stature]. 1 Corinthians 8:1 AMP
The Scriptures present to us many contrasts. The Word of God not only unites but it also divides. It separates light from darkness, truth from error, sin from righteousness, flesh from Spirit, the carnal mind from the spiritual mind, the old man from the new man, the world from the Kingdom of God, life from death, idolatry from true worship, a believer from an unbeliever, and Christ from the devil. All of these are examples of how the Word of God separates and divides.
The Scripture in 1 Corinthians 8:1 also makes a clear distinction between what puffs us up and what builds us up. The work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives is always to build us up and never to puff us up. The purpose of teaching, preaching, or ministering in the body of Christ is for the purpose of building believers up in Christ, not puffing them up in the flesh.
The natural man (the flesh) loves to be puffed up. It glories in its accomplishments, its knowledge, its status, its position, and its talents. It seeks out and welcomes all forms of recognition, flattery, and applause. The Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 6:14, “But far be it from me to glory [in anything or anyone] except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) through Whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world!”
Why would Paul glory in the cross when it put to death all the glory he could receive from the world and no longer allowed him to be puffed up by the accomplishments of his flesh? Paul gloried in the cross because it brought him into the life that can only be found in Christ. Paul saw, through the work of the cross, how good it was to be delivered from the bondage of promoting himself, to enjoying the freedom of knowing Christ. He sums up this glorious freedom when he writes…
“I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20 AMP
Today, it is the will of God for you to be built up in Christ. How does the Holy Spirit build you up? He doesn’t build you up by telling you how great you are. He doesn’t cater to your ego, your pride, or your flesh. He builds you up by pointing you to Jesus, by strengthening your faith, by sanctifying your spirit, by encouraging you to trust in the Lord with all your heart, by prompting you to take new steps of obedience to the Father’s will, by giving you grace, and by extending new mercies every morning.
He builds you up with love, with hope, with truth, with righteousness, with peace, and with joy. He builds you up with the promises of God, with the resurrection of Christ, with the fellowship of believers, with the power of the kingdom, and with the hope of His calling. He builds you up by assuring you that He is near, by giving you His comfort, by conforming you to the image of Jesus, and by bearing witness to your heart that you belong to the Lord.
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Lee
Lee- Admin
I really loved this. The clear distinction between being PUFFED UP and BUILT UP was really good. Tanks Felicia.