So… I came across a passage in my readings that REALLY spoke to me.
1st Corinthians 9:19-23
before I continue… find your Bible and read this passage 🙂
…
I’m waiting…
…
*jeopardy music
*deee deew dee deew
OKAY.
I felt like I could really relate to Paul and his theory of relationships.
I also thought that this was very applicable to World Racers considering the amount of cultural differences we have to adapt to to avoid offending people so they will respect what we do and what we have to say.
As much as I loved it the way it was written…
Every time I read it… each line was packed with so much meaning of its own to me.
SO
I re-wrote this beautiful scripture, translating my thoughts per line…
Changing it from how Paul felt… to how I feel.
Same Same… but different
it goes:
For though I am Free through Christ…
I will make myself a slave to all, that I might serve all with sacrificial love, reflecting the Character of Christ Jesus.
For each nation, I will become as a national, to relate to and love the nationals well.
For those under the law, I will become as one under that law (though I, myself, am not subject to that law) so that I might relate to and love those under that law well.
For those outside the law, I will become as one outside the law (though still holding myself to GODs law) so that I might relate to and love those living outside the law well.
For the week, I will become week, so that I might meet them where they are, relate to and love them well.
I will become all things to all people, adapting to whatever they need me to be…
To deliver the message of the gospel in a way they might understand.
I do it for the sake of projecting God’s Love under any and every circumstance…
For His Glory.
QED
on a related note
today I came across a similar scripture
Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence but through love, become slaves to one another
Gal 5;13
And I immediately got an image of a room full of shackled prisoners… neglected and withering away.
Suddenly one of the prisoners shackles, for whatever reason, fall away providing this one prisoner freedom.
He could escape. He could enjoy this new freedom to leave those four walls and seek the pleasures that lie outside…
but his fellow prisoners had not been set free… and he knew their pain… so he stayed.
He brought them water… bathed them… dressed their wounds… combed their hair… showed them love. He sat next to them and held them… providing one of humanities most basic physical and mental needs… physical touch. Soon this place of suffering and wailing transformed into a room full of love and smiles.
He took advantage of his freedom… not for himself… but to serve others.
A nun recently defined LOVE for us… “LOVE,” she said “is giving of yourself without expecting anything in return.”
Then the priest, in his sermon made two separate statements that stood out to me
“LIFE is LOVE”
And
“The glory of God is a person who is FULLY ALIVE.”
therefore…
Love = giving of yourself without expecting anything in return = Life = Gods Glory
QED
my challenges for you:
a) evaluate… how long did it take you to find your Bible… if you did at all?
b) What has God blessed you with so you can use that to serve?
Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence but through love, become slaves to one another
Gal 5;13
