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Fools for Christ
1 Corinthians 4:10
"We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised."
When Paul said, "We are fools for Christ's sake..." he was talking about how the world looked at the lives of the apostles. The world thought those men were fools to give up what they had for the sake of Christ. The world thought the way they lived was foolish. The whole reason why they thought they were fools was because their lifestyle was different. Paul was not saying He was a fool for living for Christ, only that the world portrayed them as fools.
If you openly live for Christ, you will often be called foolish or weird. However, let's consider what is really weird or foolish. When people go and get drunk and the next day are hugging a toilet getting sick, that is foolish and weird. When people go to dance floors and make weird body gyrations and pick up on others whom they don't even know, now that is foolish. When people go to ballgames and take their shirts off in the middle of winter, that is foolish. When people let cameras follow them around twenty-four hours a day and have no privacy because of a reality television program, now that's weird. When people will open up to someone whom they have never met over a social networking site, that is foolish. We could go on with a lengthy list, but what the world calls fun and normal is really very foolish or weird.
On the other hand, don't tell me living for Christ is foolish or weird. A person who stays faithful to their spouse their entire life is not weird or foolish, but wise. A person who doesn't partake of the vices this world has is not foolish or weird especially when you look at how unhealthy these vices are. A person who goes to church three times a week to learn about the Saviour Who paid for their sins is not wasting time but is learning invaluable truths that will help them in their life. A person who will give up riches for the sake of giving their life to full-time service so that they can help people is not weird or foolish, but wise. A person who won't put tattoos all over their body is not a weird person, but a wise person who realizes that one day they will get old. A person who doesn't practice body piercing is not weird, but wise when you look at some of the health reports that talk about the dangers of body piercing. A person who keeps their virginity until they are married is not strange or weird, but they are wise when you consider the STD's that spread throughout this world.
Christian, don't let the world shame you into thinking that our lifestyle is the strange lifestyle. I have often said that the Christian life is common sense living. Yes, the Christian life may seem foolish to the world, but we know there is a place called Heaven where Christians will be rewarded for the works they do for Christ on this Earth. Don't get caught up in the world's way of thinking. The world's way of thinking is nothing short of foolish. It is foolish anytime you leave God's prescribed way of living in the Scriptures. If living for Christ makes you a fool, then go ahead and be a fool for Christ. However, we will find out who was truly foolish at the Judgment Seat.
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