It was St. Paul who when writing to the Ephesians said in one of his epistles “I, therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.
The thrust of his message was clear. It bordered on the virtues of submission, patience, love, and the spirit of unity bonded in peace which the spirit of the time calls for. It also emphasizes the need to attain the unity of faith and the knowledge of God and to make us contend against the spiritual host of wickedness and evil.
Although Paul, Apostle of Christ was not addressing his letter to Cross Riverians nor did he have in mind Nigerians, his message fittingly qualifies to be addressed to Cross Riverians, and indeed Nigerians, particularly at this time when our faith in God and ourselves flicker unceasingly because we lust for material wealth and vain power.
This is so because events of the past year and more have shown that time and again, in our pursuit of material wealth and vain power, we have allowed ourselves to be influenced by the cunning of men and by their craftiness and deceitful wiles.
Cross River State today can indeed boast of having the greatest number of Churches which invariably should make us very pious and godly people.
Yet a great majority of the Churches still preach Christ from the point of envy and rivalry instead of from the point of sincerity and penance.
Need we say that this type of attitudinal inclination runs contrary to Saint Paul’s injunction that “let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, firm in one spirit with one mind
In other words, we should do nothing from selfishness or conceit but in humility, we should count others as better than ourselves.
Therefore, let us take stock of our lives and determine to what extent we have made ourselves apostles of Christ in the real sense of the word as Saint Paul and others did about two thousand years ago.
How many of us have been our brother’s keepers without expecting some personal benefits?
How many of us have gone out to preach the gospel of Christ without demanding material donations?
It is not enough to ascribe to ourselves the epithet of a Born Again Christian when in truth the person is not born again in spirit, knowledge, and the way of God.
Let us therefore resolve today to shed off our past inglorious life and begin afresh to serve God and man honestly, truthfully, and in sincerity.
Let each of us today begin a crusade of looking not only to our interest but also to the interest of others because this epitomizes the spirit of advancement, culture, and civilization.
Truly the present administration in Cross River State has set a high tone in the pursuit of peace and development, which is worthy of emulation.
There is no denying therefore that it is in this that we shall obtain for ourselves the dividends of democracy as we get along in the development of the State and nation building.
Add comment