Good morning. I hope you
are as spry as a chicken. Go get that worm you early bird. Yet for us there is
but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and
one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. There
is no other One for us; and there is only one way to Him – Jesus Christ. Paul
then talks about eating food sacrificed to idols, but we can relate this to
anything that we believe is OK for us to do. For if someone sees you, who have
knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak,
be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? So if someone who is weak
sees us doing something that we believe is OK for us or any other Christian to
do, they will believe it's OK for them. But they just might stumble, if they do
it. We don't want our freedom to cause someone else to sin. Again Paul is
talking about eating food sacrificed to idols: therefore, if food causes my
brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, that I might not cause my
brother to stumble. We should be willing to give up anything, at least in
public, if it's even possible that someone could sin if they saw us do it.
Talking about circumcised versus uncircumcised and other situations, Paul says
that he became all things to all men that by all means he might save some. He
says to run the race in such a way that you might win. He then talks about the
children of Israel in the wilderness. He tells of the different ways they
sinned, and all of the things that happened to them because of their sin. These
things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our
instruction. If they got their comeuppance because of sin, what will happen to
us if we sin? Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Do
not think more highly of yourself than you ought. If you do, you are
"cruisin' for a bruisin' " as a friend of mine used to say. Father
continue to heal the reader. Thank You that he/she excels in all things. He/she
follows Your word in all things.
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
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