NO PAIN – NO GAIN

When I was in junior high school in south central Los Angeles, there were always bigger and tougher kids who made my life miserable.

The back pages of my comic books provided a solution for my fears. Advertisements for the Charles Atlas body-building courses abounded. They showed a skinny fellow who was getting sand kicked in his face. He took the body-building course and pummeled the bully into submission. Such were the dreams of a young skinny teen-age boy. Well, body-building has come a long way! Today workout centers in every community are encouraging people to "pump iron, build biceps of steel, and get a six pack of washboard abs."

One simple phrase has come from the health fitness industry that has application to us today - "NO PAIN, NO GAIN." This phrase means that in order to make a physical gain (increase your chest size for instance) you are going to have to endure some pain. Growth requires pain - call it extreme discomfort if you prefer - but you will never grow physically, spiritually, or mentally without some disciplined discomfort. Getting God's Word to a lost world will involve some pain on our part. We will not impact our generation for Christ without stretching ourselves to the point where we hurt. Don't be content to be the same person you were last year. Don't let your life stay where it was last month. However many times you witnessed to a lost soul last year, tell more people this year. Don't settle for a passive experience as a Christian. You have unlimited opportunity to serve Christ and reach a lost world with the Gospel ministry.

Take advantage of your opportunity. Let me share a secret as to how you can become a more fruitful Christian!

• Pray for a specific ministry and people needs each day after your daily Bible reading.

• Participate in local, national, and international ministry activities. I don't mean "send somebody a check" participation. Actually attend events in your area that put you face to face with people with similar motivation. Don't just become a spectator to someone else's ministry objectives. Make this your lifestyle agenda, and I can guarantee you that your Christian experience and testimony will never be the same.

• Provide labor, funds, and love to tract and scripture distributions to kids, prisoners, and travelers. You will develop spiritual muscles that you never knew existed. You will become involved in changing the lives of other people, including your own.

And you will never worry about sand being kicked in your face again. You may not begin to look like "Arnold" - but you may start looking like a "Child of the King."