29^th September

“When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ….When I am with the gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ… When I am with the weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in it’s blessings.”

1 Corinthians 9:20-23

Paul knew what it was like for a sinner to come to Christ. He experienced this first hand in his own life. He knew what a wretched man he was before Jesus stopped him on the road to damascus. He knew the precious gift of God’s grace, His salvation and God’s acceptance of even the most hardened criminals. So great was this revelation to him, that he wanted to share it with as many people as he could.

Furthermore, Paul’s passion for sharing God’s love was so great, that he was willing to become ‘all thing to all men’ just to share the gift of salvation with people. This even meant denying his own feelings, culture and identity to share the ‘Good News’ with people.

So often, spending time with the society’s ‘outcasts’ is often looked down upon by self righteous and religious leaders. Yet when we look at Paul’s message here and the life of Jesus Christ, we find the opposite happening. Jesus spent most of His time with ‘sinners’ so that He may share His love with those the world had rejected. Paul wanted desperately that many would come to know Jesus and was willing to share the ‘Good News’ in any way He could.

Let us too join in with the passion of Paul and the love of Jesus, to share God’s salvation with as many as we can, in whatever way necessary. Let God’s love be shown to the nations through our words and actions. Let none miss out because we were not willing to ‘be all things to all men’.