Today’s Bible Reading:
Proverbs 22-24; Romans 14
Journal Entry on a passage from today’s reading:
Topic: Liberty
SCRIPTURE: Romans 14:19 & 21
19 Let us
therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification… 21 It is better not to eat
meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
(Rom 14:19, 21 NIV)
OBSERVATION:
There is a principle of Christian conduct contained in these
verses that is often ignored. In Paul’s day as in ours, people often held
differing opinions and convictions about what is acceptable and not acceptable
to take internally into our bodies. Many look to Paul’s teaching in 1
Corinthians 6 to satisfy the argument for indulging in their “acquired” tastes by
emphasizing “All things are lawful for me…”
while only lightly considering, “…but
all things are not helpful,” or acknowledging, “…but I will not be brought under the power of any:
12 All things
are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for
me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. (1 Cor 6:12-13 NKJV)
The principle is to be considerate of others over one’s
self—to be willing to set aside one’s own permissible indulgences for the sake
of the edification of others.
APPLICATION:
Whether one person adheres strictly to a vegan diet and
another likes his steaks blood rare, or one person enjoys intoxicating
beverages and another is a teetotaler, or one person enjoys inhaling
carcinogenic smoke into their lungs and another is aghast at the practice, is
not the primary consideration. The conscientious
Christian must ask, “How does my liberty affect others for either good or bad?”
If someone is a recovering alcoholic, is taking shots of whiskey with them
present at a party a good idea? If dietary freedoms or actions lawful for me
before the Lord cause someone weaker to fall, Paul says discretion for the sake
of “mutual edification” is the nobler exercise.
PRAYER:
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