Daily Devotionals

Devotional: May 17th

“…whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea and will rejoice.”

It is a common failing among men to acknowledge no good beyond their own private circle. It is as if they have a monopoly on excellence and refuse to admit that anyone else can be or do anything comparable. They remind us of the humorous bumper-sticker, “I’m O.K. You’re so so.” Even this would be a grudging admission for some of them to make.

Their church is the only right one. Their service for the Lord is what really counts. Their views on all subjects are the only authoritative ones. They are the people and wisdom will die with them.

Paul did not belong to that school. He recognized that others were also preaching the Gospel. True, some were doing it out of jealousy, hoping to annoy him. But he could still give them credit for proclaiming the Gospel, and could still rejoice that Christ was being preached.

In his commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, Donald Guthrie wrote, “It takes great grace for independent thinkers to acknowledge that truth can flow in channels other than their own.”

It is a distinctive feature of the cults that their leaders profess to speak the last word on all matters of faith and morals. They demand unquestioning obedience to their pronouncements, and seek to isolate their followers from contact with any dissenting views.

In the seldom-read introduction to the King James Version of the Bible, the translators wrote of “self-conceited Brethren, who run their own ways, and give liking unto nothing, but what is framed by themselves, and hammered on their anvil.” The lesson for us is to be large-souled, to be willing to acknowledge good wherever we find it, and to realize that no believer or Christian fellowship can afford to claim that they are the only right ones or that they have a corner on the truth.

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