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What Aroma Are You Leaving? · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey, y'all, this is friendly. Welcome back to In the
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  Stillness. Happy Saturday.
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  I hope that y'all are having a great weekend so far.
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  Thanks for joining me today. We're going to be moving into
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  the book of Third John. We're going to be in verses one
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  to four, and these verses are really just highlighting some
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  things that have been heavy and very prevalent on my heart and
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  in my prayers. So I really enjoyed learning
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  through this passage today and I'm super excited to talk
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  through everything. Let's go ahead and read the
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  verses and then I'll get right into it.
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  From the elder to my dearly loved brother Gaius, whom I
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  truly love. Beloved friend, I pray that you
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  are prospering in every way and that you continually enjoy good
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  health just as your soul is prospering.
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  I was filled with joy and delight when the brothers
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  arrived and informed me of your faithfulness to the truth.
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  They told me how you live continually in the truth of
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  Christ. It is the greatest joy of my
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  life to hear that my children are consistently living their
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  lives in the ways of truth. OK, something that I really
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  admire about this letter is how personal it is.
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  John is writing to Gaius, someone known for his generosity
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  and his hospitality and faithfulness.
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  What stood out to me is how John says whom I love and truth.
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  Now that phrase might just seem like another phrase, but it
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  matters because their friendship and relationship was rooted in
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  Jesus Christ. They were united because of the
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  truth of Christ. John is speaking like a
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  spiritual father here. He clearly loves and deeply
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  cares for Gaius. He's praying for him, rejoicing
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  over him. He wants him to flourish
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  spiritually and physically. And so I think that's such a
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  beautiful picture of what the body of Christ is ultimately
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  supposed to look like. Because as believers, as a
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  family, we are not just random individuals attending church or
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  going through spiritual things. We are supposed to be united and
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  unified in Christ. We are meant to pray for one
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  another, encourage one another, serve each other.
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  John was not only concerned about Gaius knowing the correct
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  theology, he cared about his overall well-being because he
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  genuinely loved him. And so I think in such an
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  individualistic culture that we live in today, we've lost some
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  of this. I've been thinking a lot lately
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  about the aroma I leave behind after conversations or just
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  interactions with friends on the day-to-day.
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  Asking myself, when people leave hanging out with me, do they
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  feel encouraged, refreshed, sharpened, in truth, more aware
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  of Jesus? Or do I leave people drained,
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  negative, critical, or consumed with comparison?
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  That is sincerely become a prayer of mine.
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  Because friendships, conversations, even simple
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  Hangouts, they are meant to point others and ourselves
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  closer to Jesus. So ask yourselves, before you
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  hang out with people, before you just move into the next thing,
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  How can I build someone up? When you walk into a coffee
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  shop, pray that the Lord highlights someone to you or
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  even the barista making your coffee.
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  How can I encourage this person? How can I lovingly show them the
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  truth? Proverbs talks about iron
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  sharpening iron, and it also says that sweet friendships
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  refresh the soul. So that is what walking in truth
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  should produce, not just a Bible knowledge, but a transformed way
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  of loving people. So that's why I love that John
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  celebrates not just what guys believed, but how he lived it
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  out consistently. Truth is not just something that
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  we agree with intellectually. Truth ought to shape the way
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  that we live, think, speak and even steward what God has gifted
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  us. I also really enjoyed seeing how
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  John prayed for guys, his physical health while also
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  addressing the spiritual health. There is a connection between
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  the two and this has become a huge area that God has been
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  refining in me. So I want to go into this.
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  Growing up, discipline around exercise, movement, even eating
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  healthy. It was always instilled in me
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  and I'm so thankful for those good habits.
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  Movement in itself is not bad. It is actually such a blessing
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  and it's a gift because God created our bodies to move, to
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  work, and to serve. I believe somewhere along the
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  way in my own life, what started as stewardship slowly grew into
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  obsession. And instead of exercising to
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  appreciate and celebrate what God created in me, I started
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  doing it because I felt like I had to.
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  It became kind of robotic. I wanted to perfect my
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  appearance. I wanted validation, whether
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  that was over myself or from other people.
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  I wanted to look a certain way. And maybe some of you can relate
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  to part of that too. We oftentimes hear the phrase
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  your body is a temple, and that is literally from the Bible.
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  So it is true, but I think sometimes we can misinterpret
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  what it's actually meaning. Your body is not your identity
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  and it's not going with you into eternity, but it is still a gift
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  from God that you're called to steward.
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  And stewardship looks very different from worship.
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  You see, God created food, and it's meant to be enjoyed, but
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  it's not meant to enslave you. God created exercise to
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  strengthen you, to build you up, to be equipped for the tasks
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  that he gives you, but it's not meant to become idolatry.
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  And God created our bodies with purpose, but we are not to build
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  our entire worth around our image and appearance.
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  So lately what that's looked like practically for me is just
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  asking this question before I workout or before I eat a meal.
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  Am I doing this for the glory of God or for myself?
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  Because Scripture says whether you eat or whether you drink, do
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  it all for the glory of God. So that question, it exposes a
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  lot asking am I moving my body out of gratitude or out of fear?
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  Am I taking care of myself so I can serve God well or so I can
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  control how people perceive me? Am I stewarding my health or am
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  I idolizing it and worshipping it?
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  I really do believe spiritual and physical health are
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  connected, not in a legalistic way, not in a way that's like
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  healthy people or holier, but in the sense that God created us as
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  whole people. If God gave you a beating heart,
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  lungs that breathe, an immune system that works, those are
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  gifts. And we do live in a fallen,
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  sinful world. Some people unfortunately are
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  gonna face illness, disabilities, limitations and
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  that is because sin fractured creation.
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  But even in this reality, life itself, every single day is
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  still a blessing that is worth thanking God for.
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  So I think sometimes we can become so hyper focused on
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  looking perfect, eating perfectly, or performing
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  perfectly that we forget to actually live with a grateful
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  heart. Guys, life is so much bigger
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  than your physical appearance. And another thing I've been
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  realizing is how much our thoughts matter.
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  In this portion too. Scripture talks about being
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  transformed by the renewing of your mind.
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  Romans 12/2. So the words that you repeatedly
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  speak over yourself affect you far more than you realize.
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  What your mind agrees with is gonna shape how your body
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  responds. So if you are constantly tearing
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  yourself down, even if that is internally in your thoughts, if
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  you are obsessing over your flaws, comparing yourself, or
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  living in shame, it impacts you spiritually and emotionally.
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  Walking in truth means agreeing with God over yourself instead
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  of every insecure thought in your head.
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  So I think that's why I truly resonated and loved this passage
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  so much. Guys's life reflected truth, His
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  love reflected truth, his hospitality reflected truth, and
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  his consistency reflected truth. Truth changed the way that he
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  lived. So that is the invitation for us
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  too. Not perfection, not obsession,
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  but faithfulness to faithfully continue walking in truth day by
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  day. So I want to leave you all with
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  a few reflection questions before I move into prayer.
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  First of all, what aroma are you leaving behind in your
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  interactions with people? Is it refreshing?
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  Is it building them up or is it tearing them down?
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  Is it condescending? 2 Are you stewarding your body
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  or are you worshipping it #3 What would it look like for you
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  to faithfully continue walking in the truth?
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  This week, let's go to move into prayer.
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  Dear Jesus, thank you for calling us into your family.
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  Thank you for teaching us how to walk in truth, by the way, that
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  we can. Study your life in the Gospels
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  and see how you lived it perfectly, but how you did it
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  gracefully and transparently. I pray that you would help us to
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  become people who refresh, who encourage, who love others well.
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  Would you teach us to steward our minds, to honor our bodies,
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  to live lives in a way that glorifies you instead of putting
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  all the focus on ourselves? Would you renew our thoughts,
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  deepen gratitude within us? Father, I pray that we would
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  faithfully continue walking in truth every single day of our
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  lives. We pray these things in Jesus
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  name, Amen. OK guys, that's today's podcast
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  episode. I hope that this just ministers
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  to your heart in a special way that you can pray and ask the
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  Lord to continue revealing things to you.
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  And I will see you all on the next episode.
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  Have a great Saturday.