Friday 17 Feb 2017

February 17: Romans 14:19-23

Key Verse: Romans 14:22
Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

Devotion:
Keeping the peace is something we all like to think we can do, what governments aspire to and what few actually can do! So many people shout about how there should be peace in the world and go about causing the exact opposite; if we want to do something about it, we have to start with ourselves! If we want to make others feel better about themselves to promote peace, we have to make sure we don't start arguing with them about what they are doing!

If you are invited to a friend’s house where they do not drink alcohol, then you should not expect to be given any and should probably not bring your own! If they come round to your house, then it could be wise to abstain from it whilst they are with you. How can we try and promote friendship and peace if we are not going to try and start with a bit of friendship and peace? Allowing our lusts and excess desires to rule our lives instead of standing up for peace is not wise from anyone's point of view. Through our own lusts and desires we may well be hurting others and preventing them from finding Christ.

If we want others to be Christians, then we must act like a Christian and talk like one too. We cannot go about our lives saying one thing and doing another – people will see through us! Making sure we live by the words that we say to others is a very wise move. Living as a Christian does not mean we have to make a public display of everything we do and say; being a Christian is a personal relationship with Christ that we need to follow up in person. We do not tend to make a public display of our personal relationships with others, so why should we do it with Christ? He wants to know that our relationship is sincere and based on truth, not public and based on pride! We are asked to serve Him and live for Him, not to serve and live for our own lusts and desires.

Points to Ponder:
Do you go out of your way to help others, or assume they should do what you should do?

Are you living your life for Christ?