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A prayer I often pray for my extended family—the young people coming up behind us—is that they will walk worthy of the Lord; walk worthy of their heritage and the truth they’ve been taught from God’s Word.
Walking worthy of the Lord is evidenced in our lives especially when things are not easy. You are probably familiar with the term “playing hurt,” which is a description of an athlete who gets back in the game and gives it his or her best, even though they are hurt or injured. Well, as Christ-followers who desire to walk worthy of the Lord, there are times when we have to “play hurt.”
What do you want to do when you’ve been hurt? Suppose someone has trampled on your feelings or been very cruel to you. If you’re like me, it makes you want to go to the sidelines and lick your wounds, doesn’t it? It throws you into a pity-party, and your first reaction is to walk out of the game and say, “Forget it. Who needs this!”
But walking worthy of the Lord would motivate you to “play hurt”—to hold your tongue, refuse to indulge in self-pity, and continue to stay in the game. Jesus is looking for people with perseverance; people who play in spite of the pain; people who stay in the game even though they might want to go sit on the bench for awhile.
While in prison for preaching the Gospel, the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1). He defined himself not as a prisoner of the Romans, but a prisoner for the Lord. He walked worthy of his calling under the worst kind of circumstances.
Can you think of any effective servant of God who hasn’t had to play hurt? I can’t. Are you hurt today? If that describes you, are you going to go sit on the sidelines and lick your wounds, or will you choose to walk worthy of the Lord? Ask God to give you the grace and strength to play hurt, so that you can keep on keepin’ on for Jesus.
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