Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Disqualified for what??

No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. I Corinthians 9:27

 The Olympics begin tomomorrow and already we are hearing about athletes being disqualified.

Read the article here

That's tough to disqualify yourself before the actual event begins. I read today that a Greek athlete was disqualified because of a racist tweet that she posted. She has since apologized but it seems she will not be able to compete for her team in the London Olympics. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her as she sees countless hours of training go down the tubes as a result of a careless word that was spoken.

This can be a great example for us when we think about the power of words that come out of our mouth. We've heard of athletes being disqualified for drug use or other reasons but this seems to be new territory. Scripture says that by our words we will be acquitted and by our words we will be condemned. In addition, James states that the tongue is incredibly difficult to rein in. I want to make sure my speech isn't a disqualifying factor in my race.

 Think... Do you think this girl has been judged too harshly? How do you think our speech can help us as we live the Christian life?