Christian Living

     I love Matthew 18:22-35. This passage teaches us so much about forgiveness. In this parable, we understand the depth of forgiveness that comes from God. We also appreciate the depth of forgiveness we should offer others. To best understand this concept, we must look at the values that are forgiven.      A servant is brought in front of a king who was settling accounts. This servant owed the king 10,000 talents. He could not pay it back. The king then prepared to sell the man and his family into slavery and sell all his home with its goods to recoup his money (Matthew 18:25). This would only give the king a fraction of his money back. In Ancient Rome, slaves went for 500 denarii for a male and a female upward to 6,000 denarii. In 79 AD, a recorded price in Pompeii indicated "that a slave sold for 2,500 sestertii or 625 denarii." 1 We can make some simple estimations about how much he, his wife, and kids would bring. A male slave would get 500 denarii....

     As Christians, we need others. We need our brothers and sisters in Christ to push us. Solomon, the wisest man to live, said, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” (Proverbs 27:17 NKJV). We need our strong brethren to show us our potential in Christ and coach us to get there. If you try it on your own, you risk missing the fullness of life in Christ. It’s not motivation or determination as much as it is healthy competition and desire to be “like them.” Even Paul set that challenge out there for our New Testament brethren and in turn for us when he said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1 NKJV). Seek iron and be iron for those around  you. All it will do is make us all better.       

  Healthy Competition You know one of the most significant concepts we need to understand is "your worst competitor is you." Why because you don't push yourself as much as you think. You can push yourself, but without some healthy competition, you will fail to get better. You will also miss the mark on reaching your full potential. Think about this statement "individuals perform at a higher level when competing against external opponents than when working alone." (Kyle Eschenroeder). As much as we would like to say everyone wins, the truth is they don't. There is a winner, and the rest are losers. That is not a bad thing.   I need Iron In losing, you see where you could be and who you could be if you drive yourself to a better place. If you never achieve that level of success, you still go farther than you could have ever gone in measuring yourself against yourself. As Christians, we need others. We need our brothers and sisters in Christ to push us....