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Published: July 16, 2015, 7:35 p.m.

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Don\\u2019t be selfish; don\\u2019t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.\\xa0\\xa0Don\\u2019t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.^\\xa0\\xa0You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.\\xa0Philippians 2:3-5 (NLT)

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For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don\\u2019t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Galatians 5:13 (NLT)

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Instead,\\xa0use your freedom to serve one another in love.\\xa0\\xa0For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: \\u201cLove your neighbor as yourself.\\u201d\\xa0Galatians 5:13-14\\xa0(NLT)

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True freedom comes with a level of personal responsibility.

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\\u2026As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus\\u2026 was sitting by the roadside begging.\\xa0\\xa0When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,^\\xa0he began to shout, \\u201cJesus, Son of David,^\\xa0have mercy on me!\\u201d Mark 10:46-47 (NIV)

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Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, \\u201cSon of David, have mercy on me!\\u201d Mark 10:48 (NIV)

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Jesus stopped and said,\\xa0\\u201cCall him.\\u201d Mark 10:49 (NIV)

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So they called to the blind man, \\u201cCheer up! On your feet! He\\u2019s calling you.\\u201d\\xa0Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. Mark 10:49-50 (NIV)

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\\u201cWhat do you want me to do for you?\\u201d\\xa0Jesus asked him. Mark 10:51 (NIV)

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The blind man said, \\u201cRabbi,\\xa0I want to see.\\u201d Mark 10:51 (NIV)

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\\u201cGo,\\u201d\\xa0said Jesus,\\xa0\\u201cyour faith has healed you.\\u201d^\\xa0Immediately he received his sight and followed\\xa0Jesus along the road.\\xa0Mark 10:52\\xa0(NIV)

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Walking with Jesus, means paying attention to the marginalized.

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A man with leprosy\\xa0came and knelt before him^\\xa0and said, \\u201cLord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.\\u201d Matthew 8:2 (NIV)

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Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.\\xa0\\u201cI am willing,\\u201d\\xa0he said.\\xa0\\u201cBe clean!\\u201d\\xa0Matthew 8:3\\xa0(NIV)

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Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.\\xa0Matthew 8:3\\xa0(NIV)

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\\u201cThen the King will say to those on his right, \\u2018Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.\\xa0Matthew 25:34 (NLT)

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For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.\\xa0\\xa0I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.\\u2019 Matthew 25:35-36 (NLT)

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\\u201cThen these righteous ones will reply, \\u2018Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?\\xa0\\xa0Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?\\xa0\\xa0When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?\\u2019 Matthew 25:37-39 (NLT)

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\\u201cAnd the King will say, \\u2018I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,^\\xa0you were doing it to me!\\u2019\\xa0Matthew 25:40\\xa0(NLT)

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When we truly follow Jesus\\u2026 we will stop identifying people by their brokenness and will start seeing them how HE sees them.

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Our Job is to bring people to Jesus, not change them for our comfort.

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\\u201cThe Spirit of the\\xa0Lord\\xa0is upon me,\\xa0for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.\\xa0He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,\\xa0that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the\\xa0Lord\\u2019s favor has come.\\u201d Luke 4:18-19 (NLT)

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He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.\\xa0\\xa0Then he began to speak to them.\\xa0\\u201cThe Scripture you\\u2019ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!\\u201d\\xa0Luke 4:20-21\\xa0(NLT)

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Jesus told him,\\xa0\\u201cI am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.\\xa0John 14:6\\xa0(NLT)

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For God so loved\\xa0the world that he gave^\\xa0his one and only Son,\\xa0that whoever believes^\\xa0in him shall not perish but have eternal life.\\xa0John 3:16 (NIV)

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For God did not send his Son into the world\\xa0to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.^\\xa0John 3:17\\xa0(NIV)

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Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.\\xa0Ephesians 3:20\\xa0(NLT)

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Never forget the life YOU left behind

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But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people,\\xa0God\\u2019s instruments to do his work and\\xa0speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you\\u2014from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.\\xa01 Peter 2:9-10\\xa0(MSG)

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For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don\\u2019t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Galatians 5:13 (NLT)

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Instead,\\xa0use your freedom to serve one another in love.\\xa0\\xa0For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: \\u201cLove your neighbor as yourself.\\u201d\\xa0Galatians 5:13-14\\xa0(NLT)

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^\\xa0The Lord isn\\u2019t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for\\xa0your\\xa0sake.\\xa02 Peter 3:9\\xa0(NLT)

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He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.\\xa02 Peter 3:9\\xa0(NLT)

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