SHARPEN UP!

PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS

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Today my son Austin turns 21 years old. I absolutely love the man that he is today and I cannot wait to see how God will use him as he ventures forth into his own life of adventure in the Lord. Austin has matured from being someone who needs to be led and instructed into becoming a man who can now lead and instruct others. 

Process

This maturation process is the result of dozens of people who have taken the time to invest in Austin and to help him become stronger and sharper. This maturation process, which every true disciple of Christ must willingly go through, is not unique to any particular believer in Jesus Christ. 

All maturing believers in Jesus have people in their lives who serve to aid in the process of real life change and spiritual maturity. Those who lack these mentors and coaches find themselves stunted and struggling in their faith and wonder why they must wrestle with temptations that others seem to learn to set aside. 

In the message of Proverbs 27:17 we can hear a principle that helps us understand the nature and function of these God-appointed maturing relationships:

17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

(Proverbs 27:17 NIV11)

Knives

I have a good friend who sharpens knives as part of his side hustle (Daryl Stout @theknifeguy). Many times, I have watched him bring dull knives back to their original edges using his collection of stones and grinders. 

The process requires that the dull metal must be painstakingly forced into contact with a material that is harder than the knife. This process returns the knife from a place of uselessness and restores its true purpose, even though it comes at a price. 

So it is for those seeking to have people in your life that are good for you. We must allow those God has placed before us to do their work in us, even when it is uncomfortable and challenging. This is the way God intended the disciples of Jesus to grow. When we lack these kinds of accountable relationships, we do not meet our intended purpose. 

Trust

When we trust that a fellow Christian friend has our best interests at heart, their words of rebuke and correction are used by God to help us grow and mature in ways that cannot be duplicated in other ways. This idea was again expressed well in the following proverbs:

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

(Proverbs 27:6 NIV11)

23 Whoever rebukes a person will in the end gain favor rather than one who has a flattering tongue.

(Proverbs 28:23 NIV11)

Healthy

No one naturally likes to be cut to their core or rebuked by others, especially when we know that their reproof is right on the money. But what we hear in these proverbs tells us that it is good, healthy, and even healing to be told the truth by those who call themselves as part of the family of faith.

Loving

It is not loving to sit back and allow someone that the Lord has placed into your life to continue on in their time of rebellion and sin against God. 

It is not a sign of your spiritual maturity to endure someone else’s time of deception and self-destruction. If the Lord has called you into their lives as one to whom they are accountable, then we must show them enough love to speak the hard word to them. 

This same idea was spoken well in the following message from the book of Hebrews:

24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another —and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

(Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV11)

Worship

Part of our worship expressed from our hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ includes the way in which we show those around us the love and grace of God. 

It is an act of love to spur one another on in our walk with Christ. When we see others turning aside from biblical truth, we should speak to them. When we see people we care about falling away from the Lord because of their busy and distracted lives, we must love them enough to challenge them to get back up and return to service. 

Prayer

Lord, help me to be willing to receive rebuke and correction from those who love me and want me to grow in my faith. Help me to not become defensive or to see their acts of love as an attack. Help me grow and mature Lord. I submit to your will and ways. 

In Christ, 

Ryan Laden

PASTOR RYAN LADEN

Works at MTN. CHURCH

Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church

Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at Baylor University

Studied at Texas Tech University

Went to Castle Hills First Baptist

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