How Much Are You Spending On Christlike Care

What Bible passage does this bottle remind you of? Yeah, like newborn babes. I hope you're like that. I hope you want the milk or the stake of the Word.

May God help us to keep having a consistent, ongoing appetite for the Scriptures. That's one of the battles as a Christian, is not letting the Word of God become familiar, or lose its power because you've heard certain verses too many times. Now, my message is not that it has to be a Father's Day message, but I gave my Father's Day message a few weeks ago, when I looked at Paul's words to the Thessalonians, of saying how he was gentle among them, and he was like what? A nursing mother.

So that's been three, four weeks. So, after I preached that message, men, what would your kids say to you three weeks later? If I surveyed them, would they say, you know what? That really had an impact on Dad. He even brought it up at different points when he was a little harsh, lacked some gentleness at home.

My dad is more like a nursing mother towards me. Or would they say, Dad, you're still pretty intimidating, hard to come to. I don't know.

But I just remind you of that message. I really have an ongoing burden that us men would grow in this area of gentleness in our lives, because that is an ongoing burden of Paul's. And impatience, which is anger, can be a very destructive trait towards our children, if we manifest that in our lives.

So God help us. But let me pray, and then we're going to consider some words of Paul. Father, Lord, I thank you for your Word that is like a double-edged sword.

Lord, I pray that you would cut our hearts with your Scriptures. Lord, life is busy, but we want to be those who hide your Word in our heart, that we might not sin against you. Lord, yes, I don't want to sin against my kids, but the bigger thing for all of us, we don't want to sin against you.

Lord, you are the supreme relationship. Lord, how our walk with you is going to determine our relationship with every other person in our life. Father, if we're distant from you, it's going to create issues in our interpersonal relationships with family and the church.

And so Lord, help us to be those who walk near to you. Lord, give us more grace. Father, if we, being evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will you give the Spirit to those who ask? Lord, I ask for more of your Spirit.

You say that in Luke 11. Lord, give us greater degrees of your Helper, the Spirit of God, at work in our lives. Lord, that we could by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the flesh.

Lord, the subtle deeds, the obvious deeds, everything, Lord. We just want to keep fighting in this battle that we're wrestling against the passions of our flesh that wage war against our souls. Lord, this is a war for the souls of men.

This is a war for our own souls that we're engaged in. Lord, help us to not grow dull to this in any way. And so Lord, I just pray on this time right now, Lord, be pleased to help your sheep, your loved ones, the ones you sent your Son and died for.

Lord, help them right now. I ask this in Christ's name. Amen.

How much have you spent this month on... I'm not going to answer that yet. Turn to 2 Corinthians 12. How much have you spent this month on... something.

Let's turn to 2 Corinthians 12. This passage talks about spending and what you've spent. And I want to look at that.

I want to see how much you're spending on something. And yes, I'm trying to trick you. You're thinking about finances.

I'm obviously not going to... Finance is an implication of this passage. But let's look at Paul's words here. 2 Corinthians 12.

Verse 14. 2 Corinthians 12. Verse 14.

Here for the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours. He's not wanting the church's money. He's wanting them.

But you. Why would he even think in such a way? Well, the natural relationship of parenting he brings up next. For children, they're not obligated to save up for their parents.

How many of you have kids who are saving up for you right now? Kids, are you guys saving up any money for me right now that I'm not aware of? That's not happening. It's not supposed to. It wouldn't be natural.

It would be very odd. But parents for their children. So Paul says, I'm not coming for y'all's money.

I'm there for you. But look at verse 15. This is the verse that talks about how much are you spending.

I will most gladly spend. I do think he's talking about finances there. In that first word, gladly spend.

But look what he says next. I will most gladly spend and I will be spent for your souls. So I want to think about this.

How much are you spending on Christ-like care for those in this church? For your children? For every personal relationship you've got right now in your life? Are you being spent for these individuals' souls? I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. Then look at the next statement. If I love you more, which is what he's seeking to do, what was their response? He mentions it.

Am I to be loved less? So it seems like Paul going all out for them is not actually increasing their affection for him. It's actually making them love him less. So we're going to look at that.

Then you've got verse 16. But granting that I myself did not burden you. And then he says, I was crafty, you say.

So this is something. They're accusing Paul of being crafty to get money from them. And he basically goes on in verses 16 and 17 and 18 explaining that that's not the case.

That whatever he did, he did with integrity. And so that's the point of those following verses there. But let's stop right there.

How much are you spending on Christ-like care? When we hear the word spend or spent, what do you think about? You think about money. How much money have you spent? And we can track our money that we spend. Whether it's a credit card statement, bank account statement, taxes at the end of the year.

You're reflecting on where your financial resources are going. You're thinking about that. Two of my kids have watches that track their sleep and other physical activity.

A Fitbit. Do some of you guys have watches like that? It tracks different activity you're doing in the physical realm. So we can track our activity in the physical realm.

We can track our activity in the financial realm. And we go at times and look on the app and see, well, how much sleep did you get? How much exercise did you get? Imagine if there is a spiritual Fitbit. You and I could go and open the app.

I don't have my phone on me, but you open the app and you look. How much this week did I exert on the souls of others? Only 20 minutes? What's this other column? 14 hours over here on self? Oh, you know what? Maybe let's not look at that. Imagine if we had that.

A spiritual Fitbit that you could see. 14 hours spent on self. 20 minutes on others.

Your self-focus was decreased this week, right? Your love was increased. Or it could say much emotional energy was spent defending yourself this week. Very little emotional energy was spent serving others this week.

I mean, that would be interesting to be able to actually look at that, seeing it charted out. Or it might be very unhelpful for some of us. We become way too introspective, and it actually makes us think about ourselves more.

But there's a place for self-examination in the Christian life. We're all busy. But what am I busy doing? We're all busy to some degree.

Maybe some are struggling with laziness and idleness, but most of us, we're filling our time, and we're making decisions on this is going to fill this hour of my day, and we're spending our time. What are you spending yourself for? Am I spending myself for comfort, control, my own peace, my own reputation, my own desires? Or can I say that a huge part of my life is being spent for the souls of other individuals? That's what Paul brings before us here. He says, I will most gladly spend and be spent.

He says in verse 14, I will not be a burden, because I am not seeking your possessions, I am seeking you. I don't want what's yours, I want you. And so, I want to look at this, basically, I have five points that we're going to consider from this text right here.

So, point one. Christ-like care seeks the person, not what the person can give. Right? We know that.

But let's think about that. He's not after their money, as some preachers are. He's not after their admiration.

That's a more subtle form of seeking not the people. Right? You're seeking their affirmation. As long as this person is in your life, and they're giving you affirmation, and they're flattering you, or they're making positive statements, then you want to have a relationship with that individual.

The moment that individual starts to criticize you, starts to rebuke you, starts to point things out in your life, you start to distance yourself from them. Guess what that shows? You're not seeking them. You're seeking the benefits you get from them of verbal affirmation.

Right? You're not actually seeking the individual. Christ-like care does not use people. Christ-like care does not look at people and say, well, what can I get out of you? Christ-like care says, how can I seek your good? How can I help your soul? How can I serve you and see you progress further in the faith? Right? And Paul, to prove this point, where did he reach to in the natural realm? He reached to family life.

You saw that right there. He says, for children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. And so Paul is bringing in a parent-child relationship as an analogy to explain the spiritual love that he has for the Corinthians.

The imagery works because everyone understands this in a natural way. Right? We want to take that understanding of a father saving up for his children, and we want to take that and say, I have that responsibility for my other relationships with people in this church. I've got a responsibility, not saying save up for them, but you're looking for their interests.

You're looking for their needs. So he brings this natural imagery in. A little child does not save up to buy their own diapers.

The parents do that. The parents plan. They labor.

They spend. They sacrifice. They carry the burdens the child cannot understand.

Obviously, first and foremost, us pastors are seeking to do that for the congregation. Right? There are certain times we had to discipline people out of the church. We don't give you all the details.

It might not be something you need to bear, something you need to know about. Shepherds are leading in the forefront of this reality. So Paul is saying, this is how I am towards you.

I'm not here to drain you. I'm here to spend myself for you. And that's the difference between giving what you have and giving yourself.

Paul does not merely say, I'm going to spend my resources. He says, I will be spent. That's an important distinction.

You can spend your resources to help certain individuals in certain situations. But are you spending yourself? Yeah, that can mean your finances. What about your emotions? Are you spending yourself personally? That's what Paul is describing here.

What did he say in verse 14? Here for the third time, I'm ready to come. Paul is not backing down from his love for the Corinthian church. He's coming again and again.

He's ready. So there's a giving of things and there's a giving of yourself. You can give help and still withhold your heart.

You can give instruction and still not really be near to people. You can give correction and still withhold tenderness. Some of you know that Lord Jones was a great preacher.

But when he left, the church basically died. Lord Jones gave himself to a pulpit ministry, but there wasn't a lot of pastoral realities that were happening in that church. And so the church was basically built around one man and his preaching ability, and the church didn't really last in the same way it was prior.

You can give instruction. You can give all these things. Just like our kids, the flock wants the shepherd themselves.

Paul says, I'll most gladly spend. Look back one chapter, starting in verse 23. Look at some of what Paul, spending himself, what that looked like.

Let's see if we've got some of this happening in our own lives. Verse 23 of chapter 11. Are they servants of Christ? I'm a better one.

I'm talking like a madman. With far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings. Often I was near to death.

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews, 40 lashes, less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned.

Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea. On frequent journeys and dangers from rivers.

Dangers from robbers. Dangers from my own people. Danger from Gentiles.

Danger in the city. Danger in the wilderness. Danger at sea.

Danger from false brothers. In toil, hardship. Through many a sleepless night.

In hunger and thirst. Often without food. Often in cold.

Often being exposed. And apart from other things. Just reading that list right here.

None of us have gone through... I mean, I don't want to speak for everyone. I've not gone through stuff like this. Does this sound like a man spending himself? For the love of others? This ultimately sounds like, who is he modeling in his life? Christ.

Right? This is the man who said, I have determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ. This is the man who said, imitate me as I imitate Christ. This is just a little picture into the heart of Jesus Christ.

That we see in Paul's life. Then he mentions this daily pressure on him of all the churches. And it makes Paul feel weak.

And you better believe it. You're spending yourself, you're going to feel weak. And that's not a bad thing.

Because Paul said, when I am weak, then I am strong. And so God's grace. God loves a weak, weak pastors.

Weak fathers. Weak churches. Who in their weakness, they're not having a pity party.

In their weakness, they're going to the one who gives them the strength to have the ability to labor. Paul said, he toiled more than the rest. But he said, it was not he.

It was Christ toiling in him. So you've got to remember that in the midst of all of this. Any energy you and I have to spend ourselves or people's souls, it's got to be the Lord giving us the gas or we're toast.

So that's point one that we have right here. Point two. Christ-like care gladly spends itself for souls.

One of the elder qualifications of 1 Peter is what? That deals with this. Right? That shepherds should shepherd the flock with what sort of an attitude? Not under what? Compulsion. Right? Paul deals with the same idea to the Corinthians about giving.

He doesn't want you putting money in the box under compulsion. God loves a cheerful giver. And so you've got Paul saying right here, all this spending and laboring, what we just read about Paul, you're thinking, wow, was he just really depressed in all of this? He says right here, gladly he was spending himself.

We don't want to be those who are laboring and don't have any joy in the midst of the labor. Peter says if that's you as a pastor, you shouldn't even be pastoring. You should step down.

You've got to be able to do this with joy, not with compulsion, or that's no benefit to the flock. And same reality here. So we don't want to lose our joy in the midst of being spent in giving of ourselves.

So this also shows us something. There is a way to sacrifice while quietly resenting everyone for needing you. Right? A parent could fall into this reality.

Right? They could pour themselves out and they could start resenting all the needs. They lose the joy in parenting. A pastor, the same thing.

They could get worn out. They lose the joy in the midst of that. There's a way to serve, provide, correct, drive, teach, do all of this, and think in the back of your mind, look what you're costing me.

That is a sinful thought. That is a hurtful thought. Is my love unconditional or is it based upon conditions being met? Well, Christ is the model.

How is Christ's love? Unconditional love. Not based on conditions. So we don't want to be those making resentful sacrifices.

That can become a subtle form of manipulative control where people, you know, it's like, look what you're costing me. Look how tired I am. Look what I gave up.

Look what I've done for you. And you're almost manipulating some sort of response from those who are under you. That is sacrifice turned into a demand for repayment.

That's not what Paul's saying here. He says, I will most gladly spend. So, don't lose your joy.

Paul was the man of great joy in the midst of great sacrifice and great service. And I was going to hit on this later, but I should just mention it now because it came to my mind. Remember, Philippians, what was the reason Paul wanted to remain at the church and not die and depart and be with Christ? I want to remain and continue with you all for what? Your progress and joy in the faith.

So, one of the biggest things on Paul's mind, one of the biggest things that would be on my mind, Craig's mind, Jeff's mind, and your mind as you're ministering to others in this church, is am I helping people progress in the faith? Yes, in trust of the Lord and the doctrines of God, but am I helping them progress in joy? Where they actually have a greater joy. And you know what gives people a greater joy? A greater knowing of the gospel that they don't earn God's favor through performance, that He loves them just as they are and they can rest in His love. That gives them a greater joy.

Does legalism create joy in people's lives? Putting a bunch of laws or certain standards and putting that all in people in the church's minds or your kids' minds, that doesn't create joy, it creates burden. They went out of Christianity. It's a bunch of rules, lists that have the appearance of stopping the indulgence of the flesh and it's worthless to do that.

That's not what Paul was about. So, we want to be people who are increasing people's joy. And notice here again, what does he say here? I'm gladly being spent for what? Your souls.

You've got a soul. A never dying eternal soul. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits what? His soul.

You've got a soul. That in a trillion years from now is still in existence. It's still in existence.

And we're here for less than 100 years? Unless your V. McGowan's mom is 102 right now. Less than 120 years? Paul's laboring for people's souls. Not their comfort, physical comfort, their soul.

Their soul. That's why he wanted to remain. For their progress in the faith.

So, Paul's aim is true spiritual care. He's not wanting people to behave better. That's not the goal.

It's not that they become easier to deal with. It's that they rejoice in Christ and they're made to become more like Jesus Christ. Take it to a dad's perspective, right? A dad can labor to have order in his home and function in his home.

And not be laboring for the souls of his people. The same thing can happen to a church. Churches can want all sorts of order and structure and all these things.

And miss laboring for people's souls on this great deep emotional level. A pastor can spend himself for sermons, meetings, ministry, but not for someone's soul. A church member can spend, you can do all sorts of duties.

You can have all sorts of habits. You can be at every single meeting. And you're not actually seeking the good of others' souls in the church.

Am I serving souls or just keeping things running? Am I aiming for Christ's likeness or just outward peace? And so this isn't just something physical. Though it involves physical exertion. Paul had sleepless nights laboring for people's souls.

So, laboring for people's souls is going to make you lose some sleep. Yes, it's going to affect your body. But Paul was also emotionally spent.

And that's the third thing we're going to look at. And it's implied here in the passage. But as I was studying this, I just thought about three times Paul mentions having anguish.

You're talking about emotion? Having unceasing anguish. Where are those places? What's the most well-known one? Where Paul talks about having anguish. Romans 9. What was that anguish for? Yeah, it was an evangelistic burden for fellow Jews that they might be saved.

He had an unceasing anguish in his heart. That he himself wished he could be cut off from Christ for the sake of his kinsmen according to the flesh. That is an incredible anguish.

You don't talk about being spent. Imagine bearing that burden in a true sense. Where you actually feel that.

That's going to affect you. It's going to produce tears. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, this very church, out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears.

What's that the pressure of? That's the pressure of correction. Right? Paul's seeking to correct the church. Seeking to deal with the church.

And he does it with much affliction, anguish of heart and with many tears. I mean, there are times when love must wound for the sake of healing. There are times when truth must be spoken, sin confronted, and a hard word must be given.

And Paul didn't do that with a hard heart. He did it with tears. May God give us more tears.

Another place, Galatians 4. Paul says, My little children for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth. I've seen my wife in the anguish of childbirth. It's like she becomes a different person near the end.

There's such anguish. There's such a sense of death and pain and agony every time. It always just surprises me.

It's like she's different. It almost looks like she's dying in a way in the midst of that anguish and that agony and that pain. And that's how the Bible describes it.

It's such a severe agony and anguish and pain. Paul says, My little children, I am again. You already was in that place.

In the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. Have I felt that? I don't think I have. To the degree Paul has.

Am I okay with that? I want a greater burden and anguish. This all comes back to a lack of love. Love for Christ leads to love for people.

That naturally leads to this sort of anguish. Yeah, anguish is going to look different in different ways. This is the labor of spiritual formation from Galatians 4. Paul is not content with outward conformity.

He is not content that you simply agree with him. He wants Christ to be formed in you. What a picture of spiritual fatherhood that Paul has.

So, are we being spent emotionally? And still maintaining our joy in the midst of being spent emotionally. Fourth thing from the text. The end of verse 15.

He says, If I love you more, am I to be loved less? If I love you more, am I to be loved less? And so point four is, Christ-like care keeps loving when love is not returned. We've got to get this. Yeah, it can be painful.

Paul, in effect, is saying, The more I love you, the less you seem to love me. He's saying that to Corinthians. It's like the more he's pouring out, the less they love him.

He's acknowledging that to them. He's giving himself for them. And what are they? They're suspicious of Paul.

That's their response. Paul, we're suspicious of you. You're stealing money from us.

Wow, thanks guys. I've been pouring my guts out and getting beaten and lashed and shipwrecked. And you guys are just suspicious I'm stealing money? Think of that happening to you.

What are you going to do? Get angry? Pity party? Or love them all the more? I mean, he's spending himself for their souls. They're questioning his motives. He's loving them more, and they're loving him less.

But Christ-like care doesn't stop. It doesn't become cold. You can say, I still love them.

Do they feel it? Or do they sense opening a freezer door when they're around you? Does it say, fine, they don't appreciate me, I'm done. Or does it say, you know what, if you misunderstand me, I'm going to withdraw. Paul doesn't think that way.

Look at verse 16. But, granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, I got the better of you. When he says, granting that I myself did not burden you, he's saying, okay, that's what your response is, you're going to love me less.

Okay, I'm going to grant that's the reality. I'm still not going to burden you guys. I'm going to keep on with this right attitude that I've got.

And so ask yourself, do you let people's failed responses to honor your love cause you to excuse your selfishness? Right? Do you excuse your selfishness because of their treatment of you? We don't want to respond in that. That's where the love becomes Christ-like. Christ loved Peter even when Peter loved him less and denied him.

Christ came to his own, his own did not receive him. He gave himself for souls who mocked him, who fled from him, who pierced him. And so this passage is just simply preparing us to follow our Savior in that same path.

And Paul does an incredible job. Thank God for his example. So can I love even when my love is being misunderstood and not acknowledged? Can I keep serving even when I'm not thanked? Can I keep seeking souls even when I'm being criticized? That can be easier said than done.

So God help us to be like Paul in this way. A fifth point, Christ-like care walks in integrity before God and people. Paul goes further.

We looked at it when I read the text, verse 16. Paul answers their accusation, basically saying, I didn't take money or I didn't take money from you in some crafty way. And he's basically proving that, responding to that.

He's even urging Titus in verse 18. I urge Titus to go to you. I sent with him.

Did Titus take advantage of you? Give me the facts, guys. You're going to accuse me of this. Give me an opportunity to respond.

Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps? So integrity mattered to Paul. He's not just pouring his guts out and saying it doesn't matter what people think. He's actually coming in and seeking to prove his integrity to these individuals, to the church at Corinth.

And so that should be part of us spending ourselves. Paul's answer is clear. No, I did not exploit you.

No, Titus did not exploit you. No, there was no trickery. No, there was no hidden motives.

This matters because Christlike care should have integrity. It's possible to say I love your soul while still using people. It's possible to serve outwardly but inwardly be manipulating people.

It's possible to give but give in a way that makes people feel trapped or indebted to you or controlled. None of us like being manipulated. Manipulation can come in very, very subtle forms.

You can just make a statement to someone and manipulate them. Paul's saying I'm refusing all of that. I'm not seeking your possessions.

I'm not exploiting you. I'm not going to burden you wrongly. I'm not going to manipulate you to get you to have some sort of response.

Do you see in the heart of Paul? This is Christlike ministry. That's all it is. Just being like Christ, being willing to spend your guts, being willing to have anguish in your heart, being willing to anguish in the labors of a mother giving birth for the sake of Christ being formed in that person.

This is Christlike care. It's seeking people, not what people can give. It's concerned about people's souls.

Christlike care gladly spends and is spent for souls. I mean, is this an area we all can grow in in our lives? I know I can. God help us to grow.

People use the word love so flippantly. I love you. What does that mean? Are you laying your life down sacrificially for an individual? That's love.

Love is not you back out because whatever, something happened in that relationship you had with that friend. That's not what love is. Christlike care.

Anguish for souls. You keep loving when love is not returned. So here's some questions.

Ask yourself these questions. Am I spending myself for souls or mainly for self? What's your spiritual fit bit? What do the weekly reports look like? And you know what? I'd be wrong to say Paul does say he would spend and be spent. So he did bring in physical finances.

So think about physical things in your life. How are you using physical resources? Paul's thinking of that. Obviously the Corinthian church was even thinking of that and accusing Paul of certain things.

What needs am I aware of that I'm helping to meet of brethren in the church who are suffering or have specific needs financially or physically? When there's a need for someone who's moving and I can go help load stuff up, am I gladly doing that or am I taking these opportunities to serve the brethren even in the things that appear to be so small? Do I serve gladly or serve with quiet resentment? You know, I'm doing this, but, man, I wish the elders would give me a greater opportunity. They just don't see all my potential. That's a form of resentment.

When I serve, do I make people feel like they're a burden? Oh, man, that just took so much time. When you finish helping someone and you make that comment, wow, that took a lot longer than I thought, what are you basically saying to the person? How could they take that? You might not mean how it sounds. Man, that took a lot longer than I thought, brother.

Meaning, you know, my love had two hours of time and you took five hours. Do I keep loving when love has not returned rightly? I mean, think of a relationship right now where you're loving and you're not getting the love return in the way that you had hoped. How are you responding? Coldness or are you upping the warmth towards the individual? I think if we're honest, that's a pretty serious area to think about.

Another question. Do I use people even subtly to get comfort, control, and appreciation and peace? I mean, am I pouring into this relationship because of the way it benefits me? I'm glad to get benefited by people in relationships. Praise God.

I'm getting benefited from my relationship with Jeff and Craig and others. I'm glad for that. That's not wrong.

But is that what it's all about? Do I care about souls or am I only worried about behavior? Do I want Christ formed in people or do I mainly want them to help make my life easier? So there's some questions to ask yourself about your relationships. And yeah, it's Father's Day. Here are some questions for you guys, for me.

We should ask this question. Am I spending myself for the souls of my children or merely for the order and function of my household? Just like a pastor can have an organized church, be in the pulpit, and be there and have all this order, but they could be detached pastorally laboring for people's souls, a dad could do the exact same thing in the house. Provide the money, provide structure, do all of that and not be there emotionally for their children.

Am I giving my kids my presence or just my provision? When kids cost you more than you expected, do you resent that? I've heard from some of you all, when kids become teenagers, they eat a whole lot more food. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Does that mean I get to smoke a brisket every day? Oh, that wouldn't be good.

Do you serve your kids gladly, fathers? Or do you make them feel like a burden? The same point I just had earlier. Am I parenting for their eternal good or am I just trying to parent to have peace in the home? So obviously, if as a parent you're struggling to have anguish for your kids, be there for your kids who are around you all the time. Obviously, that type of care is not going to carry over to your relationships in the church.

What's one of the qualifications for the elder? That he must have what in order? His household. The implication is obvious. If he doesn't have his household in order, if he's not there for his kids, if he's not shepherding his kids, which by being out of order means the dad's not involved, which is probably why, then how's he going to go and do the same thing in the church? He's not.

That's just not an elder qualification. The principle applies beyond an elder qualification. Where I'm at in my own family is just a small window of how I am in the life of the church.

And so, may the Lord help us in these areas. A father or a pastor can provide many things and yet withhold himself. But we want to be present.

Providers. Correctors. Organizers.

We can do all of that, but we can be absent as a shepherd. We can give rules but withhold warmth. And so all of this points back to Christ.

And so just in closing here, just thinking about the Lord Jesus for a moment. All of us should ask these questions because all of this is a call to be in love like Christ. All of this points beyond Paul but to imitating Jesus Christ.

When Paul says, I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls, he's reflecting the heart of Christ. Christ, He sought not ours but us. Christ loved more when He was loved less.

Christ gave Himself gladly for the souls of His enemies. Where does it talk about Him doing what He did in joy? Hebrews 12. For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and was seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Christ did not remain at a distance when Peter sinned against Him but He came near. Christ did not merely spend money and give everyone bread and food and all that. He gave Himself.

Christ did not merely feel anguish but He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. Christ did not merely say, I will spend and be spent but He did it. We've got to do it too.

We've got to spend and be spent for the souls of our kids, for the souls in the church, for the souls out there we can have a Romans 9 anguish. Never dying eternal souls. That's what every one of us is.

Isn't that amazing? A never dying eternal soul. And how many people die a day? Well, on average it's still around 150,000. It's over two Alamo.

The Alamo Dome is right down the street. Every day that building is getting filled two times and everyone in there is dying. That's what's happening in the world.

And if that all was people in San Antonio, there would be a massive uproar. But it's so spread out that it doesn't hit us as it should. We want to be those who live for eternity.

So just reading the text one more time. Paul says right there, verse 15, I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, that's what He's doing.

That's what we've got to do. Love them more. Am I to be loved less? But granting that, that you're loving me less, I still didn't burden you.

You said I was crafty. No, I didn't take advantage of you. Let's pray.

Father, thank You for the example we have in Paul. Lord, I know not too long ago we looked at Epaphras and there's a lot of overlap with Epaphras wrestling in prayer for the brethren. Lord, we're all spending our time, our emotional energy.

Lord, what does our Fitbit say? Lord, help us to not waste time in selfishness. Help us to not waste time being self-conscious, people-pleasers. Lord, help us not waste time in our pride.

Lord, help us not be those who have selfish ambition or conceit. Lord, give us more love for You. More love for one another.

Lord, what ways can we be spending ourselves in a glad way more for these precious brethren who You've brought into this church? Lord, I pray You would give us a greater anguish for the lost. Lord, yes, the lost kids at VBS, that they would come to know You, the one true God. Lord, do make us a people full of joy.

Lord, I want more joy in my life. Lord, if we asked people, what ways have I helped you grow as a Christian? Lord, how many people would say, you know what, brother? You've helped me grow and have greater joy in my life. Lord, that's part of why Paul wanted to remain for the progress and joy in the faith? Lord, didn't the church say that about this sermon even? Did this sermon, is it going to help people have greater joy in the faith? Or did I just chunk a burden on their shoulders? Was this imbalanced? Lord, regardless of our imperfect preaching and all our own blind spots and failures, Lord, I just pray, keep loving Your bride.

Lord, this is Your bride. These are Your precious sheep. Lord, keep working in us to will and to work for Your good pleasure.

Lord, laboring in us. Lord, we might be able to say that we labored hard, but it was not I. It was You. Yet not I, but Christ.

Lord, thank You for Your love for us. Lord, help us. We commit all this to You.

In Christ's name, amen.