More Than Mere Mortals

I found this pretty encouraging. From Lifestyle Discipleship, by Jim Peterson...

"It is true that many Christians live lives that seem to be unmarked by Christ's presence. It is possible to belong to Christ but remain a spiritual infant. Paul asked the Corinthians, "Are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?" Mere men! This seems to imply that a mature believer is something more than a mere mortal.

"But it is also true that many Christians who consider themselves unfit and feel they have nothing to offer have, in fact, great potential for ministering to others. True, they are still in the thick of it with their personal battles. They can't refer to their struggles in the past tense because they lost a round just yesterday. "How can I," they ask, "help others in areas where I am still fighting losing battles?"

"There is a big difference between these people and the others we described. The chronic infant has made peace with the enemy, while this second group is seeking to come to grips with their problems and to be delivered from them. They are looking to the Spirit of God for help and are trying to live by biblical truth. They pray their way through their struggles. They don't have many answers to their prayers to show others, and there aren't many final victories to talk about. But the significant thing about these people is that they are battling. They are fighting the very same battles that their "mere men" brothers and sisters have written off as unwinnable. More significant, they are fighting against the same issues that are victimizing their unbelieving family and friends. People can identify with them."