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Prelate’s Apartment

Sir Knight Robert J. F. Elsner KCT PGC Associate Grand Prelate of the Grand Encampment

1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

– Ephesians

Paul often refers to himself as a servant, a prisoner, and a slave to Christ. This is shocking to many people as they read the Bible; only in faith is there true freedom. How can this be, that Paul tells us he is a prisoner but also that he is free? Jesus himself tells us in John 15:

13Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17This is my command: Love each other.

Jesus’ followers are free, not because of what they have done, but because of what has been done for them. As you recognize the freedom given to you through faith in God, you willingly give yourself to Him. This is one of the central paradoxes of Christianity. Because we are free, we freely give ourselves to Him.

Love one another. Show this love. If you are in a position to lead, lead with love. If you are a prelate or chaplain, be willing to lead with the love of Christ and that peace that truly surpasses all human understanding. As leaders in a Christian organization, you have been Called to serve. Let the chains and cords of service rest light around your necks because of work well done.

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