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| Volume 18 Number 10 October 2016 | Page 12 |
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| Volume 18 Number 10 October 2016 | Page 12 |
Russ Vickers
The Congressional Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military award for outstanding bravery. The President of the United States presents this award in the name of Congress for those who performed “above and beyond the call of duty.”
Most servicemen have agreed that being awarded this medal has influenced and even changed their lives. One reason for this is that the general public is aware of them. These folks represent the people they serve and that for which the medal stands.
The Christian has a medal of honor to wear; it is the name of Christ. We profess to follow Jesus and to be servants of the Lord. The apostle Paul prayed, “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10). Paul also urged Christians to be “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:” (Colossians 1:11-12). This is being fruitful in the Lord.
Our conduct and lifestyle must be guided by the Lord and not by the expectations of others or ourselves. The Lord has redeemed us, called us by the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:14), and given to us His name! That is quite an honor, isn’t it? Nothing is more honourable than to wear the precious, lovely name of Jesus Christ. We have the freedom of pleasing only Him and no one else. How do we honor the name of God? Simply by calling God, “Father,” and walking in Christ (1 John 1:7).
[Editor’s Note: Walking in Christ has a beginning point, when one is “baptized into Christ” (Romans 6:3), by which one puts “on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). Only then can a person rightfully call God, “Father,” and walk in Christ. In addition, note what is involved in “calling upon the name of the Lord.” “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]
When I Made the Mistake
Adam B. Cozort
“I just tell it like it is” I would oft say with pride,
When others around me started to slide.
I was always the first to level the blame
And lay before others the story of shame.
I remember the time where a fellow servant of mine
At a time of great stress, in anger crossed the line.
I told everyone the flaws he had shown,
How he could not be trusted for his stack he had blown.
Then there was the time where a new sister slipped,
Committing a sin as over a stumbling block she tripped.
It was not that she did not love her God,
But only through ignorance that path she had trod.
But I with great bombast proclaimed before all
The shame and indiscretion that brought forth her fall.
I brought her to shame before all that did count
And showed her we all knew she would give account.
However, the day came when it was my turn.
I made the mistake and I knew it would burn.
I knew how others would respond to my plight,
Because I had done the same and it left me in fright.
I never would have thought to receive the reaction
That my brothers and sisters returned for my actions.
Instead of returning my own spite to me,
With love and compassion they set me free.
Their reaction to me caused more shame than the error,
For I had so often rebuked them with furor.
When I made the mistake I forevermore found
That life is incomplete until mercy and truth abound.
Let us always remember the values of right,
To show love and compassion, whatever the fight.
Our job is not to show ourselves better than others,
But with mercy and truth to lift up our brothers.
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1-2).