II Corinthians 4:7-15 ~ The Plan in Ministry

Excerpt:

We are being delivered to death every day.  But Paul says this is so that others around us can receive Christ.  That is why we go through it.  I call it the crossroads of maturity.  When we come to a point in our lives where we realize that if I am selfish and live my life for myself, I am not only cutting off my fellowship with Christ, but I am also cutting off people receiving Christ in me.  They will not see the hope, the light, and the truth that is in me.

The point of maturity starts to take place when we realize that everybody around us is affected by who we are and what we do.  Early in life we do not care, nobody cares.  But as life goes on and we mature, maybe it starts with marriage or having children, you realize you have to sacrifice yourself to raise the children.  Life is made up of giving up yourself for the benefit of others, not in the human, but in the spiritual.