E.S.G. is an acronym commonly cited in the evaluation of any business endeavor; it is key in the determination of the worth and sustainability of an enterprise by an acquirer; whether it is safe for the employees and the environment in a world that is suddenly conscious to the irreversible damage that a business can do to the world as a habitat for living things. But alas, what man has just awoken to after millennia of irresponsible living has long been the cornerstone of spiritual responsibility for the called of the Lord.

Apostle Paul in Romans 1:12 (TPT) wrote: Now, this means that when we come together and are side by side, something wonderful will be released. We can expect to be co-encouraged and co-comforted by each other’s faith!

Figuratively expressed, no single tree has it all. Trees grow together, thrive and weather the storms of life together by the support system they form under the surface by their connected roots. By these while some have access to water, some other roots have access to nutrients while some trees have access to sunlight, like is expressed in Ephesians 4:11-13 (TPT)—And he has appointed some with grace to be apostles, and some with grace to be prophets, and some with grace to be evangelists, and some with grace to be pastors, and some with grace to be teachers. And their calling is to nurture and prepare all the holy believers to do their own works of ministry, and as they do this they will enlarge and build up the body of Christ. These grace ministries will function until we all attain oneness into the faith, until we all experience the fullness of what it means to know the Son of God, and finally we become one into a perfect man with the full dimensions of spiritual maturity and fully developed into the abundance of Christ.—Culled from The Word for You Today

In the believer’s daily living how does ESG translate?

• 2 Timothy 1:15-17 (TPT/CEV) where Paul relates an experience of needing encouragement, something that Onesiphorus provided when all in Asia abandoned him on account of his imprisonment! Who wants to be associated with a gospel that puts people in prison!
• Colossians 3:12 (GWT/TPT) commands that we be sympathetic to one another. We all need to be understood and have our feelings validated. Don’t be too much in a hurry to fix people up without understanding where they are coming from, and
• Colossians 3:13 (NLT/TPT) showing grace to one another as the Lord showed to each of us.

This is our ESG to practice demonstrating to the world that we truly are Christ’s disciples (John 13:35). Shalom.

Pastor Afolabi Oladele