I’ll be honest, I never understood the fascination with Holy Communion, until I experienced a season where I spent several extended periods at a Catholic retreat center. A cohort I was meeting with for leadership development met there for something like 16 days over two years. It was a transformative experience.
I am not super gifted in the art of looking at the bright side. For whatever reason, my mind always goes to “What’s the worst that can happen?” as opposed to the positive “How might this work in my favor?” I wish I were more inclined to the latter, but it just doesn’t come as naturally for me.
Sometimes the courage we need is the courage to keep doing right. It’s easy to get discouraged in that. People will question our motives and intentions. They’ll be kind to our faces, but talk smack when we’re not around. We’re often tempted to take the low road and give it right back, to take our revenge by being malicious and petty. They deserve it, don’t they?
At the bottom line, Jesus is saying this: you don’t need to prove to the world you’re a praying person by making a spectacle of yourself. They’ll know soon enough whether or not you’ve prayed by the way you act when you get done praying.
The Bible teaches a fundamental principle that we all know to be true: actions have consequences. The things we do and say matter.
We’ve been reflecting on purpose throughout this series. We often think about purpose as something highly individualized, like a fingerprint – defined by unique interests, gifts, and experiences that are given us by our Creator. But this scripture also reminds us that…
James 4:11-12(CEB) 11 Brothers and sisters, don’t say evil things about each other. Whoever insults or criticizes a brother or sister
