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New Testament Reading - Find Common Ground

²²When I am with those whose consciences bother them easily, I don’t act as though I know it all and don’t say they are foolish; the result is that they are willing to let me help them. Yes, whatever a person is like, I try to find common ground with him so that he will let me tell him about Christ and let Christ save him. ²³I do this to get the Gospel to them and also for the blessing I myself receive when I see them come to Christ.

²⁴In a race everyone runs, but only one person gets first prize. So run your race to win. ²⁵To win the contest you must deny yourselves many things that would keep you from doing your best. An athlete goes to all this trouble just to win a blue ribbon or a silver cup,^a but we do it for a heavenly reward that never disappears. ²⁶So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I fight to win. I’m not just shadow-boxing or playing around. ²⁷Like an athlete I punish my body, treating it roughly, training it to do what it should, not what it wants to. Otherwise I fear that after enlisting others for the race, I myself might be declared unfit and ordered to stand aside.