May we never be offensive to those whose traditions are different than our own. Believers, those who believe in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, are our brothers and sisters in Christ. God forbid that we question their faith. In the measure that we judge others we will be judged.
God loves the world and did not send His Son into the world to condemn us but that through Jesus we could be saved. His Grace covers a multitude of sin!!
Faith plus nothing gives us salvation.
Brother David Steindl-Rast’s affirmation, “When you are grateful, you are not fearful, and when you are not fearful, you are not violent. When you are grateful, you act out of a sense of enough and not out of a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share.”
As a practice, it embodies the wisdom of humanity’s greatest spiritual teachers: the love of neighbor. Gratitude takes us from abstract belief to living compassion in the world. Gratitude is strongest, clearest, most robust, and radical when things are really hard. Really hard. All-is-lost hard.” SabbathMoments
Evil rebounds. So does good. Jesus summed up the bounce-back principle when he said, “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:2 NIV). Do you want God to disperse mercy upon you with a bucket? Then use a bucket as you disperse mercy to others. Would you want him to use a teaspoon? Well, you get the point. God never gives up on you. Max Lucado
1 Corinthians 9:19–23
19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. The New King James Version
Paul put himself at the service of others in order that God may use him to bring people to Jesus. He does not regard himself as a “savior,” but as an instrument through which someone might hear the gospel and be saved. He adapts to his audience (but not by compromising the gospel or his message) to remove any obstacles to their acceptance of the gospel message.
Paul lived according to Jewish customs not to be saved, but to appeal to those who also lived according to the law. Paul was not obligated to live under the law; rather, he used his freedom in Christ to relate to those under the law (Jews).
Paul did not think it necessary to observe the ceremonial commands of the law in relation to food, but he did maintain the law of Christ. Paul demonstrated sensitivity to such believers, but he also desired that they mature in their faith.
Paul is not advocating compromise of the gospel message. Rather, he is promoting a considerate evangelistic approach—one that accounts for different social circumstances, ethnicities, and religious convictions. Faithlife Study Bible
I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more: Paul put his ministry of the gospel above his personal desires. He was willing to conform to the customs of other people, whether Jew or Gentile, in order to bring them to Christ. For example, in order to relate to the Jews in Jerusalem he made a Nazirite vow in the temple (Acts 21:23, 24). Around those who were under the Law—the Jews—Paul obeyed the Law. Around those who were outside the Law—the Gentiles—Paul did not observe Jewish custom. Paul clarified this, however, lest anyone misunderstand his actions. He obeyed God’s law through obedience toward Christ. This was a broader law than the Mosaic legislation; this was the fulfillment of Christ’s will. The NKJV Study Bible
Though he would transgress no laws of Christ, to please any man, yet he would accommodate himself to all men, where he might do it lawfully, to gain some. Doing good was the study and business of his life; and, that he might reach this end, he did not stand on privileges. We must carefully watch against extremes, and against relying on any thing but trust in Christ alone. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Acts 16:3 Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.
Acts 21:23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow.
Acts 21:2 Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.
Acts 21:25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.”
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