{"id":15010,"date":"2026-07-17T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=15010"},"modified":"2026-05-24T06:37:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T11:37:55","slug":"that-of-many","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/that-of-many\/","title":{"rendered":"That of Many"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/July-17th-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15012\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/July-17th-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/July-17th-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/July-17th-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/July-17th-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/July-17th-180x180.png 180w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/July-17th.png 1254w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In my younger days, I didn\u2019t use beach umbrellas. But as I have aged, taking my pop-up cabana with me has become a must. A small, two-seater, the blue tent doesn\u2019t have much room, and it works great for Ron and me. But if we want to offer shade to others, we take the 10 x 10, which takes more work to set up but easily offers rest from the sun for many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Paul talks about seeking the advantage of many, he doesn\u2019t mean gaining their approval or trying to make everyone happy, but instead living with a heart that considers others before self. The apostle wanted to point as many people as possible toward God, even in ordinary choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a sense, Paul offered shade in the Son, offering people a place of rest from the toils of this world by focusing their eyes on Jesus. Sometimes, we must set aside our preferences so someone else can experience kindness, encouragement, and hope. Paul wanted his life to remove barriers that would keep people from seeing Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ron and I could do the easy thing and take the small tent to the beach, which would only offer us shade. But when we set aside our preference and take a larger tent, we can offer shade to many. We never know when the Lord will bring someone to us in need of shade. Living ready to serve helps us answer God\u2019s call to action when it comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul emphasizes that our everyday actions matter. The way we speak, respond, serve, and treat others can either draw people closer to God or push them away. Living with others in mind becomes an act of ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Serving others may cost us a little comfort, but small acts can become relief for someone else. Choose love over convenience, and find ways your actions can help others find peace, hope, and ultimately God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Journal Questions:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Are there areas of my life where I focus more on my comfort than on helping others?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How can my words and actions reflect Christ to people around me?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What is one small sacrifice I can make this week to encourage someone else?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Beach Vibe:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Be the kind of person who shares the shade on a hot beach, making room for others to rest beside you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two-minute read. In my younger days, I didn\u2019t use beach umbrellas. But as I have aged, taking my pop-up cabana with me has become a must. A small, two-seater, the blue tent doesn\u2019t have much room, and it works great for Ron and me. But if we want to offer shade to others, we take&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/that-of-many\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">That of Many<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15010"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15015,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15010\/revisions\/15015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}