My friend Don May, a seasoned swimming coach, says, “Be careful. Practice doesn’t make perfect; practice makes permanent.” Don says he has seen many swimmers become really good at swimming badly, using a stroke pattern that’s “just slowin’ em down, but is the pattern they’ve practiced and practiced.”
Could it be that we Christians sometimes practice the wrong “stroke patterns?” We’ve become efficient with spreadsheets for committee work; skilled with medical equipment and building projects; successful at setting up food distribution and social service networks. But are we getting better at serving with love?
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). These biblical words ring in my ears accusingly. But then I remember I’m not alone in this. I’m walking with Jesus. “Watch and listen,” the Spirit says to me, kindly.
This message is excerpted from “To serve with love” by Christa Von Zychlin in the March 2020 Gather magazine.
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