Aleksey Fomichenko’s Reviews > Maturity: Growing Up and Going On in the Christian Life > Status Update

Gifts, character, desire, and willingness to be the servant of others are keys to ministry in the church-and in any healthy church these will be noticed.

Only in the light of Calvary will we, with Paul, discover how the mystery of our suffering can be transformed into a ministry. We do not yet fully understand all of the details. But we know that Christ’s greater suffering makes sense of our lesser suffering. We know too that it is in fellowship with that Great Sufferer that our own experience of suffering will lead us to Christian maturity and fruitfulness.

Every season of suffering in Joseph's life proved to be a necessary stepping-stone in God's purpose.

God tests us to prove his work in us, Satan tempts us in order to destroy that work. If God permits this, it is in order to expose the sin in our hearts to us, and to draw us closer to himself in forgiveness and cleansing, or to give us the strength to overcome.

People who do anything wholeheartedly usually experience a satisfaction in their activity that is unknown to the halfhearted, whether it be in the sphere of work, or play, or human relationships.

Only sinners see their need for salvation and therefore seek it. Only those who sense the depth and twisted-ness of sin will develop deep desires for holiness. Until we realize how great the weight of sin is, we will not make much progress in pursuing the holiness without which we will never see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).

If we do not see how serious sin is we will never see how wonderful the work of Christ is.

Learning how to keep your way pure as a young man will provide a firm foundation for your whole life. But fail here and at best you will be playing 'catch-up' for the rest of your life. You may never be able to recover the lost ground.

The Scriptures provide principles, examples, and precepts, and provide basic structures and guidelines to enable us to apply general principles to specific situations.