by David Gibson<\/p>\n
Christians need encouragement! This is evident from the abundance of Bible passages designed to build up and motivate. Certainly, we need all the commands and all the warnings of the New Testament, but thank God also for all the verses that say, in essence, “Your efforts to do right are well worth it – keep it up! God is your helper.”<\/p>\n
Just one example of this kind of positive builder-upper is Paul’s statement to one of his favorite churches:<\/p>\n
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus<\/em>” (Philippians 1:6 NASB).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
God is working in us!<\/h2>\n
Christianity is not a do-it-yourself project. We can’t make it on our own. God works powerfully in the lives of those who acknowledge their weakness and leave Him room to work in their lives (II Corinthians 12:7-10).<\/p>\n
God’s work in us is a process.<\/h2>\n
He began it when we obeyed the gospel, but there is much yet to be done: bad habits must be replaced with good ones; our thinking must be retrained; we must develop the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and the Christian graces (II Peter 1:5-11).<\/p>\n
Our tongues need bridling, and we have much to learn about how to use our words to bless and teach. It’s the challenge of a lifetime! God wants to finish what He started, and when Jesus comes back, the task will be brought to a glorious completion!<\/p>\n
God is doing a good <\/b>work in us.<\/h2>\n
During Creation Week, God repeatedly examined what He had made and saw that it was good. As the Master Craftsman, He would never do shoddy work. He wants to be pleased with His work in each of us.<\/p>\n
“. . . work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure<\/em>” (Philippians 2:12-13).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
God is at work-in us-and the work is good!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by David Gibson Christians need encouragement! This is evident from the abundance of Bible passages designed to build up and motivate. Certainly, we need all the commands and all the warnings of the New Testament, but thank God also for all the verses that say, in essence, “Your efforts to do right are well worth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[383,513,926],"class_list":["post-82148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-growth","tag-maturity","tag-philippians"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":84551,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-work-in-progress\/","url_meta":{"origin":82148,"position":0},"title":"A Work in Progress","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson \"And I am sure of this,\" Paul wrote, \"that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ\" (Philippians 1:6). If we belong to Christ and grow in him, each of us is a work in progress.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34012,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-would-we-need-to-work-out-our-salvation-when-god-is-working-in-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":82148,"position":1},"title":"Why would we need to work out our salvation when God is working in us?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Philippians 2:12, we are told to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. But verse 13 says \"for it is God worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.\" I have never, to my knowledge, heard verse 13 quoted before. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83126,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/working-together\/","url_meta":{"origin":82148,"position":2},"title":"Working Together","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer The people of God are characterized by work. This is not a drudgery but a blessing demonstrating God's fellowship with His people and His people with one another. Salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), yet God's grace teaches us to \"renounce ungodliness and worldly passions,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Men-Working-300x200.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56326,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/from-a-fortune-cookie\/","url_meta":{"origin":82148,"position":3},"title":"From a Fortune Cookie","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I was at a Chinese restaurant the other day. It had been several years since I had been there, and the food quality had gone downhill in the meantime. But at the end of the meal came the traditional fortune cookie. As I munched on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/11\/fortune-cookie-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":95111,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/work-because-god-is-working\/","url_meta":{"origin":82148,"position":4},"title":"Work Because God Is Working","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier Text: Philippians 2 Jesus established the example. He left the throne of heaven and lived among us as a servant. God highly exalted Him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name because He was obedient even to the point of death on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42946,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-prayed-to-god-to-change-my-heart-but-nothing-has-changed\/","url_meta":{"origin":82148,"position":5},"title":"I prayed to God to change my heart but nothing has changed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I prayed to God to change my heart but nothing has changed my way of thinking or my attitude to show love and not anger. I tried to read the Bible, but I don't feel anything. Please help. 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