I tagged this under humility because I'd like to submit this query to you all with all humility. I'm tired -- very tired -- of the Calvinism vs. Arminianism flame wars, and I'm not trying to start another brawl here.

I'd like to get your various interpretations of 1 Corinthians 9:27: "But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."

My question is what is Paul concerned about being disqualified from?

John Wesley said this:

This single text may give us a just notion of the scriptural doctrine of election and reprobation; and clearly shows us, that particular persons are not in holy writ represented as elected absolutely and unconditionally to eternal life, or predestinated absolutely and unconditionally to eternal death; but that believers in general are elected to enjoy the Christian privileges on earth; which if they abuse, those very elect persons will become reprobate.

The apostle's concern is, lest he should do anything that might bring a reproach on the Gospel; lest some corruption of his nature or other should break out, and thereby his ministry be justly blamed, and be brought under contempt; and so he be rejected and disapproved of by men, and become useless as a preacher: not that he feared he should become a reprobate, as the word is opposed to an elect person ...

I admit that when I read a word, and never hear a word pronounced, I don't always get it right.

I've been reading entertainment articles for years, and I think I just realized that I've been pronouncing "biopic" wrong.

I've been pronouncing it "BYE-ah-PICK". It just dawned on me it should probably be "bye-OH-pic" as in Bio-Pic, not bi-opic. I already knew what it meant. So it's meaning should have been a clue, but not to me. No, I'm too dense.

It reminds me of when I was in the fourth grade, reading a Hardy Boys book, and it dawned on me that "idiot" was pronounce "ID-EEEE-ought". I knew that word. But I thought "idiot" was pronounced "EYE-DOT". Hey, you phonics people, how do you sound "io" anyway? I just figured the "i" was silent, and it took a while for it to occur to me that the word I heard as "idiot" and what I pronounced as "Eye-dot" were the same word! (Yes, those in my life who know this story will occasionally call me an "eye-dot". Now you can too!)

OK, that's my embarassing confession. Now it's your turn.

What words did you pronounce incorrectly in your head as you were reading them? I'm guessing this usually happens with words you often read, but no one ever says. (I've never heard ANYONE ever say "biopic" out loud. Have you?)

Confess under comments.

Related question: what words do you read often but never hear spoken aloud?

. . . or if you've ever done this to someone else. From Stuff Christians Like:

When I was in college in Birmingham, I used to attend a church called Brook Hills. One Monday in the lunch room I noticed a kid that had sung a great song at church. I approached him by the cereal and said, "That was a really good song you sang yesterday, did you write it?" He looked at me with unexpected disdain and replied, "No, God did." And then he walked away.

I felt like such a heathen. At that point in my life I felt like God had gone silent. I wasn't getting any word from him. He wasn't even sending me fortune cookie length messages and this guy was co-writing songs with him? I couldn't get God to send me a postcard with, "wish you were here" on it and he was having a Hall and Oates moment with the Alpha and Omega. I felt hopeless.

And what, then, is humility? Surely Peter is not referring to the image that many of us conjure in our minds when we hear that word - false modesty, the refusal to accept a compliment, the constant putting down of oneself. We've all been there before. For instance, have you ever had this experience? In church someone has sung a song beautifully that has inspired you to worship God. Seeking to bless and encourage them, and, frankly, to thank them for using their talents in this way, you offer a compliment:

You: "Thank you so much for that song! You sang beautifully and it really touched me and led me into worship."

Them: "Oh, please, don't praise me. Praise God."

When what would have been far more edifying (and, frankly, a whole lot simpler) would have been the following exchange:

You: "Thank you so much for that song! You sang beautifully and it really touched me and led me into worship."

Them: "Thanks."

Many of us have actually been on both sides of that exchange. I'm particularly bad about accepting compliments myself. And that isn't humility. Neither pride nor false modesty equate to humility, because they both are attitudes of the heart that have self as their first concern.