“I Give Up!”

Friday, June 28, 2019

Giving up is not normally in our vocabulary as Christians.  The Corinthians were encouraged by Paul to stick with working effectively for the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58).  Paul also motivates Christians in the Colossians letter to remain faithful (Colossians 1:23) and not move away or give up in order to be holy and blameless in Christ.  Again there is a word of instruction to hold onto Christ in order to be a fellow partaker of all of the rich blessings found only in Him (Hebrews 3:14). The message given over and over is don’t give up on Christ because it will be detrimental to your soul!

 However, I want you to consider giving up but for a totally different reason and in doing so it will be a blessing to your life as a Christian.  Consider a quote by a man named Rupertus Meldenius (aka Peter Meiderlin), “In matters of faith, UNITY; in matters of opinion, LIBERTY; in all things, CHARITY” which was adopted by our restoration leaders during the restoration movement.  You might remember that I couldn’t remember this exact quote recently in a Bible Study class. The idea is this, we stand firm on matters of faith but when there are matters of opinion, we have a right to liberty (or freedom) but we must always use love.  We must never be a stumbling block to our brethren. Forfeiting our freedom for the sake of others expresses a selfless way of thinking which is a wonderful characteristic of a Christian (Philippians 2:4).

I love a statement that I heard Dan Winkler used once, “keep your fingers on the pulse of one another’s sensitivities” (not an exact quote) in order not to be a “stumbling block” in the faith.  You see, there are times when we must let go of our “freedom” to be a greater blessing to others and “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” – Ephesians 4:3 

 So, “GIVE UP” for the sake of others!

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