HR (Human Relations) in the corporate world is a department formed for the specific purpose to manage personnel within the company. Wouldn’t it be great if we were totally managed by someone else? NO! That is Socialism or in Marxist theory, the transition from capitalism to communism. Who would want to be totally managed? We are all given, by God, a free will to make decisions. Some decisions made by some people are probably not well thought out before the decision is made. Poor decisions can lead to devastating results. So we must be careful of the freedom we possess. What if we did not have freedom to make our own decisions? I believe the lack of ability to make our own decisions is slavery. We can become a slave to another person or a slave to our own desires. Drink, food, sex are examples of desires that can hold us in bondage.
The United Methodist have a special day assigned to observe Human Relations before Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. On this day, the Church recognizes the right of all people to realize their potential as human beings in relationship with one another. I believe Dr. King was transparent in public and in private. He was free to think and speak freedom in spite of civil challenges and honored God with his body.
In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul says he has the freedom to do anything, but not everything is helpful and will not be controlled by anything. That includes food, temptations of the body as those are sins against our bodies. Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and does not belong to us. We have been bought and paid for so we should honor God with our bodies. Isn’t that a form of slavery? Yes, but I would rather be a slave to God than to my body or anybody else. Wouldn’t you?
In John 1, Jesus recognized Nathaniel as a genuine honest person. My last message was on honesty. Nathaniel is a perfect example of being honest even when we are alone and subject to our own deception. Nathaniel was seen alone under the fig tree. What was he doing? You can use your own imagination on what he was doing but for sure it was recognized by Jesus as an act of honor. We should all realize our potential as human beings in relationship with one another. We should also recognize the free will we possess is God given to whom we give honor and glory.
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