J
The heart that wants to honor God eagerly seeks and pursues ways to do it, because your life is not yours, it's God's; if it has been given to God, then frankly, because God is love, your life belongs to those around you as a witness. If living your life a certain way boldy implies contrary to the witness you're trying to show, you should run from it! I believe this is inviting evil in. Reassuring everyone that you "can handle it" and that "it doesn't matter how others percieve it" not only speaks of the heart attitude towards Christ, it speaks of the attitude towards yourself and others.
What is at stake - comfort? convenience? vs. the efficacy of your testimony? someone else's testimony? Which is more important?
This time, read the verse from 1Cor with a little more in front of it... this is almost a perfect parallel, and explains that "avoiding the appearance of evil" is not at all over-applied in this instance.
1 Corinthians 8:9-13
New International Version (NIV)
9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
Your life is not your own. I think it was stated very well already in the following (and I would encourage everyone to go ahead and read it again in it's entirety). The heart after Christ doesn't desire sin management, it desires sin elimination. Why so willing give up ground on a matter of impatience?
This is my opinion, but it is informed by scripture which pleads us to consider these things for Love's sake: All relationships and marriages on earth will end eventually, because they are temporal models of the real marriage, which was laid upon a carefully laid foundation of sacrifice, patience, and determination by the one who Loves. His courtship is everything in this life. Marriage, and a courtship filled with deliberate integrity, therfore, is one of the most powerful testimonies a person can have. Do not weigh the imagery of (or the departure from) it so lightly. It is meant to be sanctified, as is your heart.
I don't always live accordingly, but there is nothing in my life more important that conveying the integrity of God's Love, and if people are telling me, "hey - this isn't good... this isn't a good picture of what's right", then thank God, I'm going to use that to step into the right.
God bless, and I hope you submit this to Christ in every way.
What is at stake - comfort? convenience? vs. the efficacy of your testimony? someone else's testimony? Which is more important?
This time, read the verse from 1Cor with a little more in front of it... this is almost a perfect parallel, and explains that "avoiding the appearance of evil" is not at all over-applied in this instance.
1 Corinthians 8:9-13
New International Version (NIV)
9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
Your life is not your own. I think it was stated very well already in the following (and I would encourage everyone to go ahead and read it again in it's entirety). The heart after Christ doesn't desire sin management, it desires sin elimination. Why so willing give up ground on a matter of impatience?
This is my opinion, but it is informed by scripture which pleads us to consider these things for Love's sake: All relationships and marriages on earth will end eventually, because they are temporal models of the real marriage, which was laid upon a carefully laid foundation of sacrifice, patience, and determination by the one who Loves. His courtship is everything in this life. Marriage, and a courtship filled with deliberate integrity, therfore, is one of the most powerful testimonies a person can have. Do not weigh the imagery of (or the departure from) it so lightly. It is meant to be sanctified, as is your heart.
I don't always live accordingly, but there is nothing in my life more important that conveying the integrity of God's Love, and if people are telling me, "hey - this isn't good... this isn't a good picture of what's right", then thank God, I'm going to use that to step into the right.
God bless, and I hope you submit this to Christ in every way.
