Seeing Potential in People

(10) “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

(26) “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.

(28) “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
(29) For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,
(30) saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

Matthew 20:28 (NIV)
(28) just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

 

1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)
(10) Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

(1) Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.
(2) While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
(3) So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

1 Timothy 3:1-7 (NIV)
(1) Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.
(2) Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
(3) not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
(4) He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.
(5) (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)
(6) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.
(7) He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

 

1 Timothy 3:8-13 (NIV)
(8) In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.
(9) They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
(10) They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
(11) In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.
(12) A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well.
(13) Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

(10) Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”

(26) Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
(27) But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
(28) God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,

(14) You are my friends if you do what I command.
(15) I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
(16) You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
(17) This is my command: Love each other.

This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be a leader, he desires an honorable position.”