September 12, Thursday, 2019
“Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.”
??Romans? ?12:9-13? ?KJV??
“…in honor preferring one another;…”
It is an HONOR to think of others before one’s self. In the western culture it has become so natural to always be looking-out for number-one, and to not care who you have to push down so you can get ahead. But the Bible tells us that it is honorable to put others before yourself. Basically western culture has it all backwards.
There is a story I heard from my dad about a man who was shown a vision of hell and heaven. In the vision he was taken down to hell and there he saw that everyone had braces on their arms so they couldn‘t bend their elbows. In front of the people there was a great feast with lots of good food, but all of them were starving because they couldn’t get the food to their mouths. After the man had seen all this he was then taken and shown heaven. The man was surprised to see that the people in heaven also had the braces on their arms and could not bend their elbows. Before them was spread a glorious feast, but how could they feed themselves? He asked God, “Why would you do this and make their existence the same as those in hell’s?” God responded by telling the man to look again at the people. When he looked closer he saw that all the people in heaven were well fed and no one lacked food because each person was feeding his neighbor instead of trying to feed himself.
“…given to hospitality.”
This is another thing that western culture has gotten muddled, but other cultures are proficient at. Westerners have all but lost any and all sense of hospitality. This links back to the mindset of looking-out for number-one. Why would we desire to be hospitable to our neighbor when in the physical sense it can hurt us and our standing?
Being here in Guatemala has taught me so much about hospitality. Whenever I do house visits the family we’re visiting first makes sure we all have a place to sit. Sometimes this means that they will stand while we are sitting. A couple times while building stoves the family has either made us something to eat or went and bought snacks for us to have. These families don’t have all that much to begin with, but give to us gladly what they can.
There are things that I can learn from the people I am serving. I pray that I will be able to adopt these mindsets that do not come naturally, and maintain them after my race.
