Today's Reading:
1 Kings 1:1-53
1 Corinthians 10:14-33
Psalm 89:19-29
Click on Text Link to Read Online
Focus Verses: 1 Corinthians 10:23-24
23
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is
beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is
constructive. 24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of
others.
Insight:
Some
things a person may be free to do, with a clear conscience before God,
may not be beneficial. Sometimes it is wise and righteous to give up a
freedom. It's not enough for a person to consider whether something is
legally permissible; one must also determine whether or not such actions
would be beneficial.
Christians must consider how
exercising their freedoms will impact the lives of others. Before
claiming a right, we must consider whether or not the exercise of that
right will be beneficial or detrimental toward ourselves and toward
others.
Response and Action:
Instead
of merely considering whether something is legal or allowable, I will
consider whether or not it is helpful. Some things are not right to do,
even if they are not wrong or sinful in and of themselves. Actions must
be evaluated in the context of community.
Instead of
asking if something is wrong, I will ask if it is beneficial. I will
consider how my actions are likely to be helpful or hurtful. Some
freedoms and rights are worth setting aside if doing so will make a
positive impact in my own life or the lives of others. Pursuing holiness
is more important than exercising freedoms. Being a source of blessing
is always better than clinging to rights.
Lord,
make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow
love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith; where there is darkness, light. Grant that I
might not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood,
as to understand; to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving we
receive; it is in pardoning, we receive pardon; it is in giving that we
are born to eternal life. Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: Romans 14:19-21
19
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to
mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of
food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything
that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or
drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister
to fall.
Resources:
The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others
by Scot McKnight
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