Spiritual Training Cycle: Submission (wk. 13/13)
The greatest basketball player of all time is widely disputed. You might be in camp Michael Jordan, “His Airness,” (six NBA championships) or loyal to LeBron James, “King James,” (four NBA championships). You might even throw the “Black Mamba” into the conversation if you want to make a case for the late, Kobe Bryant (five NBA championships). But my personal choice is Phil Jackson. As an athlete, he only won two championships early in his career and was plagued by injuries and setbacks. His biggest ‘wins’ didn’t really occur until after he shed the title of athlete and began honoring his greater purpose as a coach; coaching in 11 championship titles! I believe Phil’s difficult experience as an athlete, injuries and all, allowed him to walk with greater purpose and humility into his destiny as a coach. In both the game of basketball and in our walk of faith, true and lasting success usually requires that we rethink our purpose. Our purpose can be found in faithfulness.
Similar to Phil’s experience, we can also step into a new purpose for our spiritual lives when we respond with humility to our mistakes and ‘injuries.’ Spiritual wounds directly affect our faithfulness. When we offer these wounds to Jesus, He takes them upon Himself so that we’re no longer weighed down by those burdens. We can release the sin and refocus our attention back on our greater purpose as Christ followers. As we grow in our faith, we can then pass on this faithfulness to others.
We’ve been following Peter on his journey of faithfulness. It’s a tumultuous journey that includes spiritual wounds and developing humility. But like Phil Jackson, injury and setbacks aren’t the end of his story. In last week’s devotional, we saw the failure of Peter to claim discipleship and loyalty to Jesus. Jesus knows it isn’t the end of Peter’s story, and after Jesus rises from the dead, He seeks to reconcile with Peter. We see in John 21:17:
“A third time he asked him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”
Jesus said, ‘Then feed my sheep.’”
Jesus is calling Peter to evolve into a new purpose as a leader. Peter must take everything he has learned up to this point about faithfulness in order to share these lessons with others. Restoration for Peter means Peter’s life is going to look different than it did before. He doesn’t just witness Jesus’ miracles but performs miracles himself.
Peter is a disciple to Jesus for only three years, but according to history, Peter is a Christian minister for much longer; 30 years in total. It is a triumph for Peter when we see him continuing to pass the torch and bring up new Christian leaders. It is no surprise that it looks and sounds familiar when Peter gives this message in 1 Peter 5:2:
“Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly - not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.”
Peter’s biggest wins didn’t occur as a disciple. In fact, we know that he messed up pretty bad in that capacity. But thankfully, Peter was able to use his spiritual injuries along with his faithfulness in Christ to become the most influential church leader of all time. These victories are a direct result of Peter’s restored faithfulness. Our purpose will be found on the other side of our mistakes when we live in faithfulness.
Questions for Reflection:
What spiritual injuries do you have?
What ways are you restoring your faith after these spiritual injuries?
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