Here’s the text for today in the NET translation.
15:14 But I myself am fully convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15:15 But I have written more boldly to you on some points so as to remind you, because of the grace given to me by God 15:16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I serve the gospel of God like a priest, so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
I’m reflecting on the fact that Paul considered the Romans able to instruct one another. He had adequately trained them so they no longer needed him to hold their hands. Sure reminders might be in order, but overall, they had progressed to the point of needing very little outside help. In a sense, Paul had worked himself out of a job!
This attitude of equipping others to the point of no longer needing you is a key one I think. Too often we enjoy having others depend on us and so we forget our job is to make them succeed even without us. Parents especially need to adopt this attitude so their kids learn to function on their own.
August 19, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Equipping others is a good thing for leaders to do.