Wednesday 27 Aug 2014

August 27: 1 Corinthians 10:23-26

Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 10:23
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.

Devotion:
When it comes down to defining what food we should be allowed to eat and what we should not be, the bible is quite clear about what can be eaten; what is not clear is the beliefs and feelings of others. If we go round to a house full of vegetarians we should not expect them to cook us up a meat sandwich, and we should not expect them to like it if we bring our own steak pie or the likes! That just makes sense when we look at a simple example like that; so why do we have such a big problem with all other things?

Just as we should not expect to consume food that has been offered to any idol if it is going to offend someone in any way, we should not expect to be able to get up to doing things which will offend other people. It may be our right to do things according to the law of the world, but Christ teaches us that we should be thinking of other people and not just ourselves. If what we do is upsetting others or offending them, we should not do it!

The law may well support us and we may well be able to prove it, but it is not always the right thing to do because of the ill feeling that we are going to cause because we do not need to try to prove to other people that God’s law is the law to follow in spite of their feelings. What we can do is tell other people we agree to disagree but that we will not go ahead because we know it will upset them.

We should be showing others that our God is a God of compassion and not a God who will not accept what anyone else says. We need to show people that love goes beyond what they seem to understand. God wants us to show others forgiveness, peace, love, mercy, kindness and a humble spirit. It does not mean that we have to roll over and allow them to walk all over us, just that we can give God the glory because we know He has even more mercy than we do!

Points to Ponder:
Do you think of others?

Do you always try to have your own way?