Col 1: 24 I now rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body, which is the church;
The afflictions of Christ are of two categories: those for accomplishing redemption, which have been completed by Christ Himself; and those for producing and building the church, which need to be filled up by the apostles and the believers. If we desire to share in the stewardship of God, we must be prepared to suffer. We have pointed out that when we give or receive hospitality, we need to carry out our stewardship by dispensing the riches of Christ into others. However, to provide hospitality may involve a kind of suffering.
In like manner, to be the guest in someone’s home also may be a cause of suffering. If you have ever been a guest in someone’s home, and the host has always taken care of you in a marvelous way, doing everything necessary to meet your needs. Nevertheless, you suffer simply because you were not in your own home. No matter how adequate the hospitality may be, you are always glad to be back home. However, during your stay there, you feel happy to testify that many have spoken of the nourishment, edification, and strengthening they have received through your sharing in hospitality, as either a host or a guest.
This indicates that to carry out the stewardship of God by dispensing the riches of Christ into the members of God’s royal family is worth any kind of suffering, great or small. As we shall point out in the following message, the sufferings in which we share are for the building up of the Body of Christ. They are in no way related to the accomplishment of redemption.
Prayer Confession Loving Father thank you for this word. I have discovered that becoming a steward involves sufferings and that these sufferings happen for the building up of your body. Lord, I ask for more strength of enduring the sufferings and behold you in these sufferings that the body maybe built up with strong and powerful believers in Jesus’ name, Amen.