“You say, “Under grace there are no rules and we’re free to do anything we please.” Not exactly. Because not everything promotes growth in others. Your slogan, “We’re allowed to do anything we choose,” may be true—but not everything causes the spiritual advancement of others. So don’t always seek what is best for you at the expense of another.” 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 TPT. Here’s another version: “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. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.” NIV.
Our lives affect others. I’ve actually seen this happening in my own life when it comes to bad reactions. My grumpiness, or ‘out of sorts’ response, critical thoughts etc. can have an impact on other people. Then instead of building others up, we begin to recruit others to agree with us, so we can remain comfortable. Our world is so selfish so we have very little awareness about the consequences of our own actions, and we spread angst, and fear instead of Grace. We’ve been commissioned by Jesus, to be HIS people of influence. This is not a part-time job.
Meanwhile nobody lives in a bubble, there are people all around us, and the way we respond to them, plus the difficulties they themselves create, can influence everyone’s outlook. Particularly if they are not having a good day! It is like dominos, if you tap one in a line of them, all the others fall over. It is error to think that doing what we want because we feel like it, is OK. The thought that ‘what I do won’t matter’ is a lie we tell ourselves, when we don’t care to think about the consequences. There are always consequences. Then shame can cause us to hide because we don’t want to be found out. I think we’ve lowered the standard for good … to … “I’m not hurting anyone!’
When something or other that is not profitable wants to hang around in my mind – first of all I need to tell the enemy to take a hike. Then I need to pray and see if what is going on is recent, or I have something faulty in my beliefs. Unforgiveness, wrong beliefs, or even traumas can damage our root systems. Bad roots produce bad fruit, with diseased leaves etc. When I have some wrong thinking, my mind needs to be changed in this area and we need the Lord’s help to uncover it, so we can repent and repair stuff. As I ask the Lord for His help, He will give me scriptures to help me through the temptation.
Deception is a sneaky thing, it does not jump up and down and suggest we should lie — instead it insinuates that other answers, different ideas, are more rational and palatable. Suddenly we remember that Brother-So-and-so says this and that, so what we are thinking must be OK. We need to realise that other people are like us, we all have a portion of the truth, but the whole truth is in the book! If we have any doubt about things that interfere with us loving others or walking with Jesus – it is essential to our spiritual health to deal with it, not excuse it away.
What 1 Corinthians is talking about is transparent love in action. Love is not just mowing someone else’s lawn, love is also being open and honest with each other … even about our faults and flaws. Meanwhile telling someone else about their flaws is going to make them mad at me – that’s a dumb move! Start looking in your own backyard first. Humility looks at me first.
The bible says in James 5:16: “Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results.” I can see two things happen in this scripture. First of all we will return to a right attitude toward the Lord so when we pray for others they will be healed … And the second is: when we confess our faults to others, and as they pray for you and I, we will be healed too! Win. Win.
God gave us Christ’s righteousness at great cost to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit — and that must become our greatest treasure, it needs guarding. Righteousness with the Lord is not something we can manufacture. It is free. But it will cost us the right to do what we want, when we want to do it. Our reference point needs to be this: “How will what I am doing affect my relationship with the Lord and others?” None of us want to take what God has given us, for granted.
This means we cannot put aside what our own actions will do to someone else. If we don’t pay attention to that particular issue, we can stall our own spiritual progress — because whatever we do will become muddied and unproductive. Christians cannot live a totally separate, unexamined life, and still claim that Jesus is with us. Let’s choose to become a part of what He has designated as His plan for mankind. If we have gifts, then they are for other people’s benefit, we need to use them to do that. Meanwhile we were not given gifts to promote ourselves!
Jesus Christ set the cadence – He … ‘established the pace, rhythm, or schedule that an activity, project, or group is meant to operate in.’ Everything Jesus did, He did to benefit mankind and bring glory to His Father. We follow Him – let’s remember that what we do affects others. Bye.👋.
