“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 Corinthians 6.12
Greg Laurie suggests we filter our activities;
By asking ourselves four questions: Does it undermine me spiritually? Could it bring me under its power? Do I have an uneasy conscience about it? Could it cause someone to stumble?
Most of us don’t wrestle with the black and white sins…
…lying, cheating, infidelity, etc. But even in that area, we should never underestimate the power of our sin nature to justify it’s own desires.
The tendency of our “flesh” to self justify should cause us to approach the “grey areas” of life with humility. If an honest assessment of any of these four questions results in a “yes”… It’s a huge caution flag: It means, take it slow!
Make sure you have honest reasons before engaging in them:
If the decision is to engage, more accountability is required. Accountability can serve as an early warning system for negative consequences.
“…Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind…”
Romans 14.5
2 replies on “It’s OK…But…”
The NIV says “”I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.”
It’s like people in the Church at Corinth were justifying their actions by their rights… it’s a basic human right for me to do this. Sounds a lot like things in our culture today. Abortion? Basic human right. Sleeping around? Homosexuality? The list could go on I’m sure.
Not everything is beneficial, and many things that are not beneficial are addicting. God created us to LOVE LIFE living under his law, even despite living with the flaws of a fallen world. But outside of God’s law you can guarantee you will find, in the end, dissatisfaction and pain.
Thanks Winston for your thoughtful comments.