A Daily Devotion for Monday, March 7
- ontrakk
- Mar 7, 2022
- 1 min read
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sale of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
The message for me this morning is to always remember people come with their baggage. To ignore the baggage is to ignore something important about that person. If we understand someone’s background a little bit, we are less apt to insult them or belittle them, without meaning to. We are more apt to understand their needs. It is God’s job to send the Holy Spirit to another, but we can sometimes help get the process started.
Holy Father, you know we all start from such different places, and we all walk different paths. Help me to understand this when I talk to others about you. Amen
Becky, transforming
March 7th, 2022
I Corinthians 9:19-23
Paul said, I have become all things to all people. This is a passage about evangelism, and how he wanted to reach others. For example he would NOT become a thief to reach out to thieves. He would never become a male prostitute to reach other men. He would never murder people so that he could be better placed to reach out to murderers. And so on and so on. He met people right where they were. When I think about reaching out to help others, I understand I will have different opinions and ways of doing things. I will just be myself, and try not to copy someone else. We are all cre…
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
I have heard Paul being accused of fakery for this kind of evangelism, the argument being he is constantly acting as something he is not. This charge, I believe, misses Paul’s point. Meeting people where they are is an essential aspect of modern evangelism. People by and large today do not put much trust in institutional authority or expert authority. The way to earn trust is through relational authority. If a person feels heard, understood and genuinely cared for, the more inclined they will be to give the gospel a fair hearing from the one who hears, understands and cares for them.
Prayer - God of empathy, give me the vision and wisdom to meet people at…
1 Corinthians 9:19–23 What a wonderful lesson about what evangelism should be. This is certainly different from the knocking on doors and trying to convince a stranger to believe as you do that some of us have witnessed. That behavior gives evangelism a bad name. While you must stay true to what is right, you do need to try to understand others. You need to try to find common ground, spread the good news in a sensitive way and show God’s love by your words and actions. Prayer: gracious God thank you for this lesson. Evangelism has often been a negative to me. This is how it should be done. Amen 
1 Corinthians 9: 19-23
19Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible
23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Paul wanted all to know Jesus. He was able to embrace each type of people and attempt to liberate them from their ideological beliefs and to know the freedom in Christ. When we are talking to someone who may not have the same faith as we, we need to have insight into what they might need. Paul wanted us to understand the needs of others so that we can bring them to know Jesus.
Dearest…
I am reminded of something I read during the height of the pandemic..."We are all in the same storm but we are all in different boats." In other words people are fighting battles we know nothing about. We need to remember this so that we don't judge what others are going through. This daily devotion reminded me of that.
Dear God, Help us to remember and pray for others as we would wish others to pray for us.