by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
Both of my grandfathers died before I was born, so I never got the opportunity to know them. From what I heard from those who did, they were like most men, with lives salted and peppered with both good and bad. But instead of worrying about what kind of men my grandfathers were, I should be more concerned with what kind of man their grandson is.<\/p>\n
I wish everyone I knew could say I’ve been a steadfast and continuous warrior of the gospel. I wish they could say my love for the Son of God has driven me to a never-ending, always-increasing service for Him. Some might. But others who know me better know that I fail from time to time. Those who know me best know that I am often filled with self-doubt and frustration over my inability to do more and better work for Him.<\/p>\n
But here’s His answer to my angst and self-disappointment: “I’m not done with you yet<\/strong>.” I’m not finished, He’s still making me! I’m still being molded and shaped and conformed to Jesus’ likeness (Romans 8:29).<\/p>\n And here’s more good news — so are you.<\/strong><\/p>\n God’s not finished with us; we are still being drawn and invited into a relationship with him. Jesus served us first, and from that place of being served by Him, we can serve Him and His church.<\/p>\n What God does for me is turn my focus from myself and toward Jesus. This may seem simple, but it is a monumental gift of change and transformation. He can do the same for you. No matter where we’ve fallen from or what we’ve broken, our Maker has a grand design and intention for us that is not yet complete. Rest in hope and turn your focus upward and outward. Let Him change your focus from your anxiety and frustration in yourself to confident trust and faith in Him.<\/p>\n “And I’m sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ<\/em>” (Philippians 1:6).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Zeke Flores Both of my grandfathers died before I was born, so I never got the opportunity to know them. From what I heard from those who did, they were like most men, with lives salted and peppered with both good and bad. But instead of worrying about what kind of men my grandfathers…<\/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_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[383,551],"class_list":["post-90641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-growth","tag-reputation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16197,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-choose-to-remain-single\/","url_meta":{"origin":90641,"position":0},"title":"Is it a sin to choose to remain single?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it a sin if a Christian chooses not to get married for his or her whole life? Answer: Getting married has always been an option and never a requirement. The apostle Paul never married and when persecution raised its ugly head on the horizon, he urged other Christians,\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":85959,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-am-i-forced-to-be-single\/","url_meta":{"origin":90641,"position":1},"title":"Why am I forced to be single?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am 43 male Christian. I have never been married, and I am a virgin. I never chose to be single or celibate. I could never gain the interest of the opposite sex, so I have been forced to be celibate. Does being forced to be celibate and not\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":36107,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-visit-my-grandfathers-church-when-we-are-there-even-though-we-left-that-denomination-for-the-true-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":90641,"position":2},"title":"Should we visit my grandfather’s church when we are there even though we left that denomination for the true church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Okay, we have been in the Lord's church for less than a year. My husband, our little son and I are going to visit my grandma and my mother for my son's birthday. We will be there for almost two weeks and one of the days we will\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":59601,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sin-of-self-righteousness\/","url_meta":{"origin":90641,"position":3},"title":"The Sin of Self-Righteousness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steven Harper Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of the first century, often because they had a too-high view of themselves. When He was at the house of Simon [a Pharisee], a woman who was known to be a sinner came in and began to wash His feet with her\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\/2023\/02\/proud.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25121,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-i-corinthians-79-a-command-or-a-recommendation\/","url_meta":{"origin":90641,"position":4},"title":"Is I Corinthians 7:9 a command or a recommendation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've always wondered about I Corinthians 7:9. \u00a0I'm unsure of how to take it: as a command or a recommendation? I read that \"let them marry\" is a better translation than \"they should marry,\" but I'm not sure how strongly it's intended to come across, or even the difference\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":88459,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-saying-that-jesus-suggests-buyings-swords-for-self-defense-an-assumption\/","url_meta":{"origin":90641,"position":5},"title":"Isn’t saying that Jesus suggests buyings swords for self-defense an assumption?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Years ago, I discovered your helpful website, but I stopped using it. Recently, I re-discovered your website. I appreciate the tremendous amount of work you have put into the material found there. 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However,\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90641\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}