The preacher is a living word about God’s Word before the preacher ever says a word. When the preacher speaks, every word reveals the preacher’s way of life. Devotion to God and neighbor is the primary prerequisite for preaching the gospel.
While the subject of devotion may conjure images of saintly characters on their knees with their hands clasped in prayer, the devotional life encompasses a far wider range of activities than that. To devote oneself to any task, person, community, or ideal is to give oneself wholly to that object of desire. Johann Sebastian Bach was as devoted to making music as Martin Luther King Jr. was devoted to making justice. Dorothy Day’s devotion took her into the streets of lower Manhattan, while Jonas Salk’s devotion tethered him to his laboratory. Mother Teresa’s devotion to the poor people of Calcutta kept her going to a ripe older age, while Oscar Romero’s devotion to the peasants of El Salvador cut his life short.
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