Zanele Tlhakanelo

From the doxology, we acknowledge that there is no one who is worthy of all the honor and praise but the Living God. He is God Omniscient, God Omnipotent, God Omnipresent. God is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. We acknowledge that He was there before the foundation of the world and when everything else has perished, He will still be there as He is from everlasting to everlasting, the immortal, the invisible God. Praise makes us understand that all the honor and glory belong to God alone. We may acknowledge other people for doing good but Him alone deserves the Greatest Honor. I like the song that says " I will serve no foreign god, no any other treasure" because the Only, One, True God deserves the praise. I always use doxoloxy throughout my personal prayer and praise time. In fact, most of the time I use it and at times it happens randomly. I always believe that as long as I am breathing, I will always worship Him whether the circumstances are favorable or not, He alone is exalted above all gods. Doxology reminds the speaker that we are all God's masterpiece and if your focus is not on the self but on God, He gives the speaker the strength and the words that will make people understand the true message of God's Kingdom, the Good News and that will make people to be receptive of the Word of God.

Paul comments after the paragraph on law because he wanted to teach not only Timothy and Titus that there is nothing that the law has done for him as a blasphemer, persecutor and violent man but the Gospel of Grace set him free from all that he used to do and he was able to receive the wonderful gift of salvation. He is letting Timothy and the church that it is only the Gospel of Grace that can set a person free. Having been the worst of sinners, mercy rewrote his life after acknowledging Christ Jesus as his Lord and Savior. The true gospel teaches us that we cannot save ourselves and that having receive it, we need not boast about it thinking that it is our doing but preach it so that people can know the true Light. The Gospel is truly not about the works we do or have done, it is all about the Grace we receive from Christ Jesus. We need to understand that the grace of God is sufficient for all of us and no matter how the world views us, we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. God loves the sinner and not sin hence He patiently waits for us to say "Yes to His Will that all men should be saved".

The results of the false doctrine caused leadership crisis among the elders while others began to become too greedy and their desire was more on wealth than teaching the Gospel of God's grace. The unity and peace of the church was disturbed by the controversy and confusion of these false teaching. Controversies do not promote God's work which is by faith but false teachers focus on quarrels about the law that they do not even understand, malicious talks, focus on unimportant matters which diverts the church direction and compromise evangelistic mission. It prevents growth as the focus is no longer on the true gospel of love, unity and peace but on petty matters that make people not to know the true Word of God's grace. The mission of producing healthy Christ-followers becomes disturbed and prevents Christians to mature in Christ and exhibit His life through their lives.

The old refers to the treasures such as the laws, prescripts and beliefs of the Old Testament that were taught and people had to abide by. People had to obey all the laws and keep them as prescribed. The law was given by Moses and all had to follow that. The new refers to the Gospel that teaches us that we were sinners but Christ came and died for our sins. We only have to believe in our hearts that Christ died for us and God resurrected Him from the dead and confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of our lives. We believe that grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. We are to be cross-trained because we believe in both the Old and the New Testaments because we can learn from both and know that heart of God from the beginning. We must preach the Word of God just like the prophets of God were able to warn people if they continued to sin and did not want to repent. We must continue to preach Christ resurrected and the eternal life so that people should know that it is only when we believe that Christ is the Lord and Savior of our lives.

A sharp and tasty witness does not shy away from telling the truth about the Word of God. This is the witness who does not compromise the Word of God because he/she lives it daily and people cannot doubt that. He/She is a witness who has been sent out to the wolves but does not fear them as he/she knows that God who has sent him/her out to the world will protect the witness. There is boldness in witnessing for Christ and is firm in his/her belief. A bland witness is like lukewarm. He/She moves with the flow. He/she is like a lamp that is hidden under the table or the salt that has lost its saltiness. The witness' actions and words are always contradictory. When he/she is with Christians, the behavior is different so is he/she when with unbelievers. They fear that they will be ridiculed if he were to be labeled as a child of God. He/She wants to please people and often does not want to be known as a servant of God as not only are preachers/pastors servants but every child of God is a witness wherever you are, in your family, your community and workplace you represent Christ and must witness for Him. Jesus Christ expects us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. It is therefore important that we boldly stand for our belief and we know that we have been forgiven our sins and we need to tell the world that God loved us so much that He loved us so much that He gave us His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not die but have an everlasting. The message is simple and we just need to pass it on to those who still live in sin.

I live in South Africa and we do not have boundaries where we cannot preach or share the Word of God. It is just unfortunate that the Government has allowed Democracy in everything and have restricted that no prayers must be conducted at schools. I was a Principal at a High School and I made sure that Pastors were invited to come preach to my learners but unfortunately, in most schools prayers are no longer conducted and I believe that is where the harvest is ripe. In Proverbs 22:6, the Word of God says "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. I am more of a sower because I have been an advocating even at my new workplace that we have morning prayers. It was difficult at first because there are many racial groups and wanted to oppose it but God favored us. We were disturbed by COVID-19 for us not to gather but the Spirit of God wants us to continue. There is nothing wrong being both I presume because somewhere you plant and in other places you reap. People are being sceptical as well about reapers as there are shocking things happening by people using the Word of God to deceive others. I want to believe that God wants people who will worship Him in Truth and in Spirit. It is my prayer that God should raise such reapers who do not want to enrich themselves but preach the Gospel. More than willing and let the people believe the Jesus in me and see Him in me through my actions and my speech. God help us to preach His Word without compromising it.

Jesus is heartbroken about the lost sheep because they have heard the voice of the Shepherd but still do not want to follow the Shepherd. They have hardened their hearts and rightly distanced themselves from following Jesus. The lost sheep in my community are people who say there is no God and some say Jesus Christ is not the Messiah. These are people who have seen God save them from a lot of evil things and hardships but still do not want to believe. There are also Pastors who do disgusting things especially in our country and yet they want people to follow Jesus. Their actions do not at all witness that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior but want to give people stuff so that people can start believing in them than in Jesus Christ. I pray that God have mercy on them and let them come to true repentance. Our God is patient and even those who makes mockery about the Word of God should repent before it is too late.

Jesus does not want people to make sacrifices as if impressing Him but is touched by people who have compassion towards other people. People who show love and care about the wellbeing of others. The Pharisees discriminated people they referred to as sinners because they did not follow their religious observations. They considered themselves as people who have integrity and looked down upon others. When Jesus Christ went to dine with the "sinners", they were disappointed and made remarks that were uncalled for. Jesus Christ loved the sinners because He understood that His mission was to save those that are lost and to heal the sick. He did not discriminate against the sinners because He understood that He came for the lost so that they may have life. I understand that I was a sinner and Jesus Christ took the fall and thought of me above all. It was only through His grace that I got saved and therefore, I cannot judge those who are still sinners. I have been called to be light of the world and the salt of the earth, therefore, I cannot condemn anyone who is still living a sinful life but pray for them and believe that God will change them. A spiritual doctor is the one who reaches out to people that are sinners and prays that they see the light. He feeds sinners with the Word of God so that they understand that the wages of sin is death and those who want to have an eternal life must accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

The Jewish Priest and the Levite are deemed to be people of authority who must take care of the needs of the community and the hated Samaritan man as an ordinary man who is not even recognised by the community. The former were unmerciful and had no regard for other people thus neglecting a man who was about to die and just overlooked him while the hated Samaritan was merciful and took care of that man. According to Jesus, a neighbor is every person that you meet whether you know him or not. You do not help a person because he is known to you but because He is made in the image of God and after His likeness. So, Jesus Christ showed love Himself by dying for both Jews and Gentiles. That is why it is important to know that we are all God's workmanship. If I understand that all people are made in the image of God, I need to know that I have been called to be of service to all the people. I need to understand the teaching that says "do unto others what you want them to do unto you". It cannot be that I want to be assisted at some point in time but ignore or neglect others when in dire need. I must emulate Christ in all my actions.

Jesus gave His disciples the Parables of the Talents and Minas so that He emphasise that God has given each one of us Spiritual gifts, talents, etc. so as that we use whatever God has bestowed upon us for the advancement of His Kingdom. We are not to hoard these talents and gifts because God believes that if we use the gifts and talents given, the Kingdom will grow and most people will come to the knowledge of God. I use them to bring women together from all denominations and we teach one another the Word of God and pray for our families, our country and the body of Christ. Our home cell has a lot of projects like feeding the needy, buying school shoes for those learners who do not have, feeding soup to people looking for jobs and I must say that I diligently use the resources that God has given me. People bury talents maybe because they do not know that these are not for their keeps but for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. There are also people who are selfish and do not want to share with other people. It is important to know that God gives us different talents so that we can complement one another. Faithfulness is nothing but being obedient to the Will of God. If we are faithful ,we listen to what the Holy Spirit tells us to do. Being faithful is not grieving the Holy Spirit but following instructions that we must carry out. God expects all of us to use the talents/gifts He has given us accordingly. It is pretty obvious that if God has greatly gifted you, He expects you to use your talents/gifts to advance His Kingdom.

The washing of the feet is a parable in that Jesus wanted to teach His disciples about servanthood and humility. It is important to learn that even though you have a high position, you must be humble and learn to serve others. Although we understand that a servant cannot be higher than the master, it must also be understood that the master can humble himself just like Jesus who was supposed to have His feet washed to remove the dust only but He took time to teach His disciples that they ought to do the same to other people. The disciples were shocked because this was a menial work and only slaves or servants were supposed to wash the feet of their masters. They were shocked to see their Master pour water into a basin and started washing their feet and this made Peter to want to object because he was not sure why the feet and wanted his entire body to be washed. It is a parable of cleansing because Jesus Christ will be crucified for our sins and His blood will wash away all the sins of human kind whether we believe in Him or not. All human kind will be forgiven their sins when the blood and the water ooze out of His body. It is rebuke of pride and competition because His disciples wanted to know who is the greatest among them. We know that in God's eyes we are all equal. Jesus wanted to deal with the issue of competition as the Gospel is for everybody and there should not be any competing. It is of humble service because it teaches us not to want to be served but to serve. Most of the time people occupying high positions wants to be served and there is nothing wrong if you occupy that position and you stand to serve others. We should always strive to be helpful and emulate Jesus in both our actions and thoughts. Put people's needs before your needs. I must always humble myself in all aspects of my life. I must consider myself a servant who is on earth to do the Will of God and not my will. I need to be obedient to God and whatever I do to any man, I must understand that I am doing it to God. I always pray that I should remain humble and not want to occupy front seats unless I am called to do so.

The similarity between Jesus' Parables of the Friend at Midnight and the Unjust Judge is that they teach us about being persistent and never to give up. The friend had to knock even though he knew that it was late and maybe anticipated that his friend might not open for him but he kept on knocking until the door was opened and he got what he wanted. The widow did the same. She approached the judge publicly and that put pressure on him until her request was granted. We need to continue knocking because at times the door may be closed but not locked. In my life, I do not easily give up. I am hopeful that one day God will hear my prayers as I pray for my family and colleagues to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I am not pushy but my actions and words will make them understand that I serve the Living God and I believe that they will also come to the knowledge that the God I serve is faithful. Persistent prayer will help me not to lose my faith even if things are not going the way I want at the moment. I believe that persistence goes hand in glove with patience, therefore not being easily discouraged will yield positive results. As a disciple I must have a "stubborn faith" and not be moved by petty things. I believe that I need to continue holding on to the true Gospel and understand that whatever I do for the Lord is not in vain whether people hear me or not, I will continue preaching the Gospel and God will do the rest.

Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that we can come to the and ask anything that we need because God is loving, caring and wants the best for His children. We come to Him with confidence that He will provide for all our needs just like the earthly fathers do and even more. The disciples are taught that when you ask God, you must believe that He will not give you a stone when you have asked for bread. Jesus corrected the misconception that when you ask God, He will give you exactly what you want. Our God is not like that. Even when we pray amiss or out of selfish ambitions, He will always provide what He knows will not be destructive in your life. God's goodness and love goes beyond what we can see with our naked us. Whatever we ask for, we must believe that we have received even if we did not articulate those things well.

Jesus uses the Parable of the Birds and Lilies to teach His disciples about trusting God over all the material things that we are aways after which are of course temporary. We need to fix our eyes on the Creator because He knows what we need even before asking. The Birds and the lilies to not go out to hunt but God, the Provider, ensures that the birds eat and the lilies are always clothed with beautiful colors. Jesus Christ wants us to seek the Kingdom of God first and because He is Omniscient, He will provide for all His children. If you worry about the future that you do not know, you will end up with all the sicknesses and illnesses that are in this world because you will not have peace. It is important to cast all to the Creator because He holds the future. Worrying will not even add a day in your life. Give all to God and have faith that He will provide for all of your needs. Jesus instructs His disciples to seek the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness all will be added to those who diligently seek Him. Matthew 6 verse 33 teaches me to trust God whole-heartedly and never give up trusting Him. There are things in my life that I so desperately wanted and I have learnt that because I have not received them yet, it does not mean that God will not provide them. God's timing is always perfect and while waiting, I must continue to trust Him and be obedient to His Will. When we force matters, I presume that God looks at us and patiently wait until we are disappointed and come back to Him for very things that He told us to wait for. Even when we do not receive those things the way we thought about them, God knows better and His plans about our lives will not be thwarted.

The subtle ways of serving money than serving God is when we prioritize our needs over what we have to do in advancing the Kingdom of God. We start by paying all the debts that we have and take to God what I call "leftovers". The other way is when we people moonlight and work so hard that they prefer to take two or three jobs in order to make money and not fellowship with others. Running after money rather than feeding their spirit. People want to create wealth at times at the expense of others. We detect these temptations in our hearts when we do not want to share with people that are poor or vulnerable. We hoard things and at times when there is a project that the church wants to embark on, we ignore such but we are able to spend money on things that are temporary. We do not even discuss with God on how to spend the money forgetting that it is God who gives us the ability to create wealth. We always want to satisfy the self but unfortunately, we cannot because when something comes up, we end up buying things and at times, those things bought are of no value. Jesus taught His disciples the Parable of the Master so that they understand that it will be impossible to satisfy or love money and God. He indicated that the other one will suffer. We cannot serve God and also have our hearts in the things of this world. I like the book of Deuteronomy 30 verse 19 where we are given a choice to either choose life or death. I love of God because He begs us to choose life. Indeed, when we choose money over God we end up worshiping it and forget about God or give Him less attention. We need to fully serve God and Him only.

Being wealthy is not a sin because the Word of God, He gives us the ability to create wealth. Therefore God gives us so that we are able to take care of the needs of the poor, the orphans and the widows. The rich man was selfish and thinking about himself and the future that he did not know. Instead of sharing his wealth with others, he wanted to enlarge his barn so that he could accommodate all his harvest so that he can be merry. There are so many people in our country that are destitute. Some stand at the robots and beg. The monies that have been allocated to the elderly, orphans get misused by the politicians who are unscrupulous. Greed might influence the Christian behaviors and values in that we might lose focus of what God expects us to do with the wealth He has given us. Such Christians often want people to worship them because they are monied. They become gods and at times take advantage of those who do not have by even stealing from the poor. Greed is deep-rooted and can make one to even forget to faithfully serve God and instead of fellowshiping with other brethrens, he can go out to want to get more. Greed makes one not to be content with what one has.

The Parable of the Unjust steward teaches disciples to be honest when mandated to carry out tasks which God has mandated them to do irrespective of how small or big the assignment that God has given us. Disciples are to conduct themselves with integrity and have moral principles in upholding good values and sticking to the Word of God and not trick people by doing something contrary to the Will of God. Laying up treasures in heaven means you take care of the poor and not expect them to reciprocate in any manner. The Word of God says whenwe take care of the poor, we are lending to God. It is therefore important to know that God has blessed us in order to be a blessing to other. We are not supposed to hoard things while a number of people go hungry. God sees our hearts and when we do small things and not tell the whole world what you have done, pleases God. There are people who always blow their trumpets when they have assisted poor people and want the public to know what they have done. When God entrusts us in taking care of the needy, He will surely enlarge our territory. God is waiting to see our obedience and how trustworthy are we in carrying out small assignments. You do not have to wait to be too wealthy and start giving alms but with the little that God has given you, you must share with others. The English saying says from humble beginnings come great things. People that have been promoted beyond their spiritual growth are a danger to themselves and to those they serve. Spiritual growth needs maturity in order to discern what is right and what is wrong. These are people who will act like the steward and ask debtors to be dishonest in their dealings. God has entrusted us to take care of His properties and resources, therefore, we need to be spiritually matured to carry out God's assignment honestly and with integrity.

Jesus teaches us to be aware of false prophets because these are people who are like all of us but come wearing the sheep skins. The dangers are what they teach because normally they say one thing but act differently. They are always people of influence who want to lure people from knowing the truth and deceive people into following them. They are ferocious because their actions and attitudes do not symbolize that of the followers of Christ. They put themselves first and God last and do not care who they hurt along the way. It is important in the church to know these people so that they are not given any position because they can easily divide the unity of the church through their actions. They bear bad fruits and because of their actions, they corrupt people and lead them to sin. Paul warns Timothy that these are people that should not be ordained quickly or lay hands on them. Flawed Christian leaders are those that are weak but not necessarily dangerous false prophets. They may allow things to happen in the church and nor rebuke those people simply because they take care of their personal needs and do not want to offend them. Whereas, false prophets interpret the Word of God in order to deceive people and want people to worship them rather than worship the Living God. The Word of God says even the elite will be deceived. It is therefore important that children of God should ask the Holy Spirit to help discern between the flawed Christian leaders and the false prophets.

In the practical term it means we have communion with Christ and we remind ourselves that He gave His Life for us so that we may have eternal life. We are washed by the blood of Jesus Christ so that we can have direct communication with God. Nibbling the Bread of Life means we do not have a good relationship with. We may be going to church but our actions do not show that we are in Christ. We do not apply the Word of God in our lives daily. If we say in Him we live, move and have our being, we must always quality time with God, understanding and applying His Word. Making a meal of it means spending quality time with God and understanding that we have been called to preach the Word of God so that those that are still in darkness can see the Light. We are called to be ambassadors of Christ. Eating His flesh and abiding in Him mean that we acknowledge that Christ died for our sins, though not a sinner, He was cricified so that we may be the righteousness of God. When we abide in Him, we know that He is our Redeemer and appreciate that He will always be with us. His Word says "I will not leave you nor forsake you". We allow Christ to direct our steps. Christ used this offensive analogy because He wanted to see if His disciples truly understand that He is the Messiah and that He came so that through His death, we may be forgiven our sins and become the new creation. They were offended because He called Himself the Son of God who came on earth to fulfil the mandate of God.

Abide means to dwell and be rooted in the Lord. In this instance, Christ becomes the centre of your life and He takes control of your life. Mary, the sister to Lazarus, chose to sit at the feet of Jesus and listened to all His teachings. When able in Him, we become obedient to His Word and allow the Holy Sprit to guide, direct,lead, advise and help us in all the actions and decisions that we must make. Mutual dwelling is the permanent, personal and intimate relationship that we have with Christ. This means that we subject ourselves to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We become attentive to the small still voice and do what He commands us to do. We need to believe, trust and live our lives according to His Word. Personal relationship is the communication that we have we God. We acknowlegde Him as our God and we as His people. Having communion with God strengthen our relationship with Him because we understand that He loved the world so much that He gave us His begotten Son, our Lord and Savior. When we spend time reading the Word, praying and fasting, we are building a personal relationship that no one can take it away from us. Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our lives. He is the great "I AM." He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. Therefore He knows everything that is why He says without Him we can do nothing. We must allow God to take control of our lives because without Him, there is nothing that we can do. We must always spend time with Him in order to know what is expected of us. There is no value in doing things without Christ. It is like building a house on the sand and when the storm comes, it is blown away. Whatever we do, we must always enquire from the Lord because He cares and loves us so much. Final things done without Christ leads to destruction. The Word of the Lord says "We may make our plans but God has the last word". God does not want anyone to go to hell but if we do not hold on the Truth, then we will be condemned.

The skillful person only prunes the branches that will yield fruit and cut only the dead branches. As children of God, we also need that so that we can proclaim the word of God to all the nations. It is only through the Word of God that we allow it to teach, rebuke, correct and train us for righteousness. God says He chose us and we did not choose Him, ordained us so that we may go and bring forth fruit. We are not to be confused as children of God but must have an ear of hearing the Word of God as He speaks to us. We must have a revelation of the Word of God as we obediently walk with Him and do as He instructs through His Word and fellowshipping with other brethrens. As we abide in Christ, we will bear much fruit because without Him, there is nothing that we can do. Obeying Jesus according to John 8: 31-32 states that we need first to believe in Jesus and be prepared to read the Word of God daily because growth comes when you understand the Word of God and practice it. We get cleansing when we confess our sins and repent sincerely. When we have done this we will know the truth and it will make us free. Freedom from all the false prophets and idolatry and serve the Living God only.

Hypocrisy is easy to detect in others because we are always judgmental and want to correct mistakes done by others. We always look for minute mistakes done by other people and always think we are better off than others. We always think high of ourselves and most often think that we are holier than thou. That is why the Word of God says I want to remove the speck from my brother's eye yet there is a plank on my eye. This then says we are quick to judge others when they have sinned but maybe we commit too much sin that at times we do not want to acknowledge. It is deadly to spiritual growth in that instead of loving and caring about people, we want to correct how they behave and this we do not do in truth and in spirit. We must first take the new converts into confidence and teach them what is expected by God since they now have established a relationship with Him. To witness: we always need to declare the Word of God as is. We should not teach people to live a Godly life whereas we are doing the opposite. To obedience: people must be taken through the Will of God and it is so simple in that God says love your neighbor as you love yourself. When you truly love people, it will be difficult to judge them but easy to correct them because you live a Godly life yourself. To being a disciple: you need to show people the way and not say do as I say not as I do. Disciples must be examplary at all times uphold the Word of God and always being humble to those they shepherd. The antidote is that you need to be honest, reliable, trustworthy and not live double standards. Be willing to be corrected yourself and always accept that we did not save ourselves but Christ took the fall and thought of us above all things.

People want to push themselves forward because they consider themselves as better than others. They want to be acknowledged and praised in public places. In verse 11, such people feel humiliated when they are removed from the higher places as they are supposed to wait and be seated. Humility is important because people get to respect you when you are humble and they will then learn from you that you do not have to consider yourself as important because more important people will surface and you end up being embarrassed. If we do not learn and internalize this lesson, we will be working against the will of God. The Word of God says "Humble yourself before God and He will lift you up".

The characteristics necessary for salvation are humility, openness, trust, innocence and receptivity which are all character traits that little children displayed and Jesus expects us to be like them. The disciples displayed arrogance and selfishness. They did not understand the Master belongs to all His creation. It was not a matter of protecting Jesus but considered themselves as more important than others. Arguing about who was the greatest showed that they considered themselves superior as compared to others and in the eyes of Jesus we are all the same as the Word of God says that He is not the respecter of persons. Humility to repentance says you are quick to acknowledge your sins and are ready to ask for forgiveness and repent from all your sins. Humility to learning indicates that we must have a teachable spirit and always allow to be led. Humility to obedience says be prepared to be corrected in order to grow and be able to carry out the Will of God Jesus wanted to teach His disciples to be approachable and be able to engage with everyone without classing people. You cannot be a disciple and want people to serve you. A humble person will show compassion at all times because he/she cares about people.

The Pharisee is convinced of his righteousness because he thinks that praying daily and giving his tenth are things that touch the heart of God. Jesus had to remind him that God looks at the matter of the heart and not someone who is boastful. The Pharisee was full of himself and his prayer was selfish as he wanted to remind God what he was doing instead of giving God his shortfalls and ask God to assist him. He showed how arrogant he was by standing prayer in the open. The Word of God says that when we pray, we need to go into our closet and close the door and pray. Praying standing in the open and make long prayer does not justify that the matter of the heart. Making known that he was paying his tithes in public was also not what the Word of God expects from us. We are told that whatever we do, we must not let the right hand what the left hand does. The tax collecter's prayer is that he humbled himself and was open to God that he was a sinner. Acknowledging his sins was that he needde the grace of God to assist him and have his sins forgiven. We always think we are better than others and want to be seen and acknowledged in public places. We just need to humble ourselves and God will lift us up. People will know that we do good deeds and we do not have to tell the whole word but our actions need to speak for ourselves. Jesus wanted the disciples to understand that they have been called to serve the people of God and they need to always humble themselves.