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EQUIPPED FOR MATURITY  

He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ. – Ephesians 4:11-13 (NLT)

            Jesus has blessed His church with capable leaders giving them the express purpose of teaching those within the church how to be spiritually mature. They teach by both word and example how to become more like Jesus Christ. The church that is not being strengthened by godly leaders is a church that is being drained of the power of the Spirit of God. The church that is led by people gifted for the roles God has given and are humbly seeking God’s direction is a church that is being blessed. They are reaping the harvest by seeing the clear results that come from practicing the art of becoming more like Christ on a daily basis.

            The goal for each of us as individuals, and corporately as the church, is to seek the full stature of Christ in our own lives. We are to seek the mind of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the love of Christ, and the example of Christ as a present reality. The leaders of the church are put into place to help us do exactly that.

PRAYER THOUGHT: God, be with the leaders of our church. Give them the strength to carry out Your mission and give me the desire to follow their lead.