Galatians 2:6 – But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:

Hello readers, just a short blog for today. I have been thinking about the topic of adding to someone’s life and people that have added to my life personally. We should be adding to people. What have you added to someone? Have you added anything? Do you have anything to add? I thought about many professing Christians that I’ve been around, whether they were truly saved or not I don’t know and most probably are not, but they didn’t add anything to me, just like Paul wrote here in Galatians.

See, Paul went up to Jerusalem and ran into a bunch of important people whose only real importance was self importance. Paul called them “somewhats”. But whatever they were, it didn’t matter to Paul. Their “person” didn’t help him at all. Who they were, what they were… irrelevant. These guys didn’t add anything to Paul’s life. They didn’t add to his faith or his walk with God or anything. In fact, he had to put down the garbage they had been teaching others which was causing them to stumble. People were listening to them because of who and what they were.. They were religious people, but Paul didn’t even give place to these guys for an hour. He didn’t waste his time with them. They had nothing of value or substance to add to Paul’s faith or Paul’s life. They had no value to Paul at all despite their substantial social and religious standing. These guys were all talk, but there was nothing to any of it, and what they were teaching was wrong and totally against the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

These guys weren’t nobodies, they were somebodies in the Jewish religion. But whoever and whatever they were, they added nothing to Paul’s faith, life or ministry. We often think we are pretty important, and we may well be in human terms by human metrics, but you could be seriously useless to other people. What a legacy to have, that ultimately you didn’t add anything to anyone. Has God ever used you to add to someone’s life? Has God ever used you to add a soul to the kingdom of God? Has anyone ever got saved and not gone to hell because of you? Has God ever used you to increase someone’s faith?

I thought about who has added to me, like, people that have added to my life, and the people that have really added to me as a person and my faith are very few if I’m being honest. Dead religion hasn’t added to me. Other people’s experiences haven’t added to me. Other people’s opinions and theories and philosophies and wisdom, it hasn’t helped me at all. Your self importance hasn’t added to me. Your lies haven’t added to me. Your niceness hasn’t even added to me. And many people, like these guys Paul was dealing with, are only good for ruining your life, such as here in Galatians bringing the people into bondage to a bunch of false ideas and false teachings and false doctrine. See, because they were “somewhats” it was about who and what they were and thought and said, not about what the Bible said and taught. It had stopped being about Jesus Christ and was about them. All these guys were good for was perverting the clarity and simplicity of the gospel and destroying the faith of others. That doesn’t sound like adding to someone’s faith.

I’ve been around a lot of professing Christians in my life who have added absolutely nothing to me. There are a lot of spiritual sponges out there, but not many people who can add to other people’s lives. Jesus said to Peter in Luke 22:32 “when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren”. Sounds like Peter would be adding to other people’s lives doesn’t it. One way we can add to someone’s life is by strengthening them. Rather than weaken them, strengthen them? Add to their armor, add to their hope, add to their confidence, add to their life, add to their faith.

I remember back to when Joshua was fighting a battle with the Amalekites in Exodus 17, and when Moses held up his hand Joshua was winning, and when he put his hand down Amalek started winning. Moses’ hands got heavy and he couldn’t hold them up anymore, but two guys by the name of Aaron and Hur added to Moses. They took a stone and put it under him to sit on, and held up his hands until Joshua and Israel won the battle. Aaron and Hur “added” to Moses. They added to Israel.

I  also thought about what I’m adding to other people’s lives, and am I adding anything to anyone else? I hope I am, but the reality is, I haven’t added to many people in my life. When I’ve been selfish and self important and full of stupidity and foolishness, I haven’t added anything to anyone. When I’m proud and envious and scornful and self righteous and arrogant and dumb and stupid and wrong and in error and transgression, I’m not adding to anyone’s faith. I’m not value adding. I’m of no use. Maybe I’m even a somewhat, but I can be a somewhat and good for nothing. Followers of Jesus Christ shouldn’t be good for nothing. We are meant to be salt and light. But where is the salt? Where is the light? You can add light to someone’s life. You can add salt to someone’s life. If you’re not adding, who will? Who will add to that person’s life if you don’t?

We can’t really add to someone else if we aren’t adding to our own lives. The Bible makes it clear that we are to add some things to our faith (read 2 Peter 1:5 to 2 Peter 1:8). I look at my life, and have I really got any of these things added? What have I been doing. Maybe I’m not adding to anyone else because I don’t even have faith myself, let alone that faith being added on to. We don’t just stop at faith, we are meant to go on unto perfection in Christ. Charity is the bond of perfectness, and the final of those things to add on to our faith.

I’m so far short of the 1 Corinthians 13 Christian it’s positively dizzying. It’s a damning indictment but it’s the truth. To add to someone else, firstly we have to come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ and his word ourselves. You can’t add on top of if there’s no foundation of faith there to build on top of. It all starts with faith, but many of us don’t even get a foundation laid to begin with. We don’t even care for, much less believe and obey God’s word. No wonder we are barren and unfruitful. Instead of doubting, disputing, denying and disobeying, there must be a dying to ourselves and our self importance and all our garbage, and a falling on him and being broken before he falls on us and grinds us to powder.

From Galatians where our main verse for this blog comes from, Paul several times refers to the faith of Christ. That’s not a typo. The most important faith is Jesus Christ’s faithfulness to us. What births faith in us is his faith to us. That’s why he is the author and finisher of our faith. Whenever someone starts rabbiting on about their “faith journey” you know they’ve not arrived at the starting point for faith, which is Christ’s faithfulness to us. We really are an unfaithful rabble if we are remotely honest with God and ourselves.

See, Paul was dealing with some people who weren’t honest. They were false brethren, so they were liars. They were both deceived and deceiving others. They were sneaking in their false doctrine, they had an agenda, they were devious and liars and they had nothing of value to add to Paul’s life. Yet somehow they’d gained traction in that religious little commune. Paul rolls in and has to sort it all out. Even Peter got caught up in all the garbage that was going on. When Paul should be rolling into town to be added to, he’s finding a bunch of idiots that can’t add a thing to his faith or ministry or life. And this was a guy who was suffering for the gospel’s sake. This was a guy who went through a lot so that someone might hear the gospel and be saved. And he goes to Jerusalem, and he runs into people who are high on themselves, who have nothing of substance or value to Paul in his journey in life. People need food for the journey, life is a tough journey, do we have anything to give them?

The things you can add to someone’s life comes out of you having added to your own life. Start with faith, and build upon that, not around it, but upon it. Faith is the start point. Charity is greater than faith because charity is faith plus having added on top of faith. It is the picture of the believer that has gone on with Christ unto perfection. Ask yourself this, if you haven’t added to your own life, how can you add to someone else’s life? If there is no virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity…  how can you add to someone else?

Truth be told, I look at those things and I’m pretty destitute of all of them. Maybe that’s why I’m so barren and unfruitful… which is what verse 8 references. When are we going to take this thing beyond a spiritually void and spiritually dead exercise into the faith realm, into the trusting God realm, into the children of promise realm? That’s what Galatians is all about, people trying to live Christian in the energy of the flesh rather than in faith.

I was thinking the other day about just how bad it really will be as Jesus said, all those people saying Lord, Lord, expecting to be welcomed, but only for Jesus Christ to say to them, depart from me I never knew you. It truly is going to be as bad as Jesus said when he said there would be weeping and wailing when they’re cast out forever and the realization of eternal doom takes hold. No God, please no. Peter says, and God’s word says in 2 Peter 1:10 “brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall”. We are diligent to sin and to advance our own selfish interests, oh boy we are diligent at that. Why don’t we get diligent at believing and obeying God? We need to make sure we are actually saved, actually in the faith, not just a somewhat who has nothing of value for the weary traveler and the hungry soul.

Is there any godly input you’re having on someone else’s life? Have you ever had any inputs? Would someone else be able to say, oh yeah, that guy really added to my life. Not for your glory, but to God’s glory. Or is your life just taking and sponging and leeching and parasiting off everyone else. Has anyone ever added to you? Who is doing the adding? Who’s adding the salt? Who’s adding the light? Who’s adding God’s word into the mix? Who’s casting the tree into the bitter water? Who’s adding the meal into the pot to fix the death in the pot?

May we be people who can truly add to someone’s life and leaving a lasting legacy and be of eternal value to other souls. If you’ve added God’s word to someone’s life, if you’ve added the gospel to their thinking, you’re truly adding something of eternal value and worth. I’ll conclude with this thought… the Bible says in Proverbs 3:1,2 “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.” God’s word will add to your life, so add it to your life, then you can add to someone else’s life.

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