Today, I want merely to point you to a piece of Scripture and have you spend some time reflecting on it. The passage is in 1 Corinthians, where Paul is trying to correct issues about personal conduct, especially in relation to “gray” areas where there was some serious conflict between members of the body:
You say, “I am allowed to do anything” – but not everything is helpful. You say, “I am allowed to do anything” – but not everything is beneficial. Don’t think only of your own good. Think of other Christians and what is best for them.
1 Corinthians 10:23-241 Corinthians 10:23-24
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Always Honor God 23 . Some of you say, “We can do whatever we want to!” But I tell you that not everything may be good or helpful. 24 We should think about others and not about ourselves.
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Applying this pattern to your own actions:
- Are you actively engaged in Christian community? Why?
- Is there anything that stands out in your own life as looking after “your own good,” over the best interest of the body?
- What behaviors do you engage in that you feel liberty about in your own person, but struggle with because of their appearance and/or other believers’ reactions?
- What, if any, limitations should we recognize in this call to do “what is best for” others within the community of God’s people, at the expense of our own “rights” or wills?
If you have come this far, and have taken time to reflect on your own actions and their effect on the body and individuals within the body, take time to pray. Thank God for the freedom he has given you, as well as the body of believers he has placed around you. And then ask him what he thinks about his church – it’s importance, and your place in it.
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