And now these three remain. Faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how I react to it. Would you agree or disagree with that statement?
Before there was Tiger Woods, there was Jack Nicklaus. And before there was Jack Nicklaus, there was Arnold Palmer. Palmer was considered the greatest golfer of his generation. His followers were affectionately known as Arnie’s army. He won hundreds of tournaments, with hundreds of trophies. Yet, the only trophy in his office is the cup from the 1955 Canadian Open, the first professional tournament he won. To go along with the trophy is a plaque which reads:
Although he was not a Christian, you might have heard about Victor Frankl. Frankl was a prisoner in a Nazi prison camp during World War II. He was horribly mistreated, but his attitude made him an inspiration to millions of people who would hear his story. The Nazi’s took away everything you could possibly imagine, but through it all he would not let go of his freedom to choose how he would respond to his captors. He is quoted as saying: “The one thing you cannot take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.”
We can’t always choose our circumstances, but we can choose how we respond to them. In the 1 Corinthians 13:13, we are called to put on the virtues of faith, hope, and love. When our faith is in Jesus, we have hope, that enables us to respond in love. We can choose joy because we know we have a God who is bigger than any circumstance we face, and who already holds the victory. So when others are walking with their faces downcast, we can still walk with a smile on our face.
Have a great rest of the week. This weekend I will be sharing a message on discerning the voice of Jesus. Our text will be John 10:27. Hope to see you on Sunday at 8:30 or 10am.
