The Spiritual Olympics 灵里的奥林匹克竞赛
“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
Author: Deacon Daniel Xu
The Olympics this year have been postponed to 2021. It's the first time the Olympics have been so severely disrupted since World War 2. As the saying goes "the show must go on”, I want to share with you about a little bit of competition we can put in place of the games.
Many of us are working from home and going out less and even our church life is impacted amid our government's strict measures. Just like the Olympic athletes who are not able to train as much or compete, I've gotten feedback that our members are feeling tired, lethargic and disconnected. So let us stretch a little here with the word of God.
In Roman 12:10, the Bible urges us to love one another. More than that, it asks of us to outdo one another in showing honor. The word outdo means to compete. There are measurements and comparisons here. You are to do better than someone else. But what are we competing in? In being more honorable than another? No! We are competing to show honor.
How do we show honor? We show honor by putting the needs of others first. By taking care of the people around us. Basically, we show honor by loving one another.
This is a competition that I have no confidence in coming in first, but this does not have to be an individual event. As we try and outdo one another, we're all in this together to outdo others. In these uncertain times, I pray we continue to set our eyes on Jesus and the people He loves. Let us put down our own needs and discomfort, buck up and dig in to take this competition seriously.
So, let's stretch and warm-up well, posture ourselves and get ready! May we all get a good placing in this competition.
“爱弟兄，要彼此亲热；恭敬人，要彼此推让。”
作者：许燕俊执事
今年的奥运会已挪后到2021年。这是至第二次世界大战后，奥运会第一次受到如此大的影响。有句话说：“戏还是要演下去”，我想分享一些我们能够取代今年奥运的竞争活动。
我们大多数人都已经在家中办公，我们出门的次数也少了，我们的教会也因着政府的严厉管制受到了很大的影响。就如奥运选手无法正常的为着比赛锻炼。我们也听到了一些会友的反馈说他们的灵命也退步了，感觉与彼此和神的关系疏远了、态度懒惰了、身体乏力了。因此，让我们用神的话语伸展伸展一下！
罗马书12:10，圣经勉励我们要以爱彼此相亲、以恭敬的心互相礼让。这 “以恭敬的心互相礼让” 感觉上就好像在比赛彼此礼让一般。看谁让步更厉害一样！这里的礼让似乎是量的到比得出胜负的一种礼让。在这竞赛中，我们比的不是谁更配得更多的尊重、而是谁能给彼此更多的尊重！
我们要如何彼此尊重和礼让呢？首先，我们要将别人的利益放在自己的利益之上。先照顾好我们周围的人。简单来说，这里的尊重和礼让就是上段所写的“彼此相亲相爱”。