Good Morning Friends,
“‘Everything is permissible for me’ -- but not
everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’ -- but I will not
be mastered by anything. ‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for food’ -- but
God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but
for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Do you not know that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You
are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your
body.” (1 Corinthians 6:12-13, 19-20)
Paul starts this passage by quoting some
popular sayings of the day -- and he didn’t deny their truthfulness. We don’t
live according to a legalistic code of conduct. We’ve been freed from that in
Christ. “Everything is permissible for me.” But that doesn’t mean it’s a good
idea to do “everything.” While permissible, there are many things that are
harmful to our physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual lives. We’d be
foolish to give ourselves to things that are harmful to us or others.
While permissible, there are many things that
are dangerous, that lead to being mastered. Sexual immorality is one of them. How
many people have been trapped by sexual sin because they have given in to
pornography or in other ways started down the road to what the world calls
sexual “freedom.” Drugs and alcohol fall into that category, too. Many people
have been trapped in chemical addictions as they started down a road called
experimentation. In seeking freedom, they have become slaves.
“Food is for the stomach and the stomach for
food.” But that doesn’t mean we should live for eating! There is more to life
than the fulfillment of our physical desires and needs. In fact, those physical
desires and needs are only temporary and to give our lives to them is very
short-sighted and foolish.
Our physical bodies and how we use them belong
to the Lord. He bought us -- body, mind, and spirit. Our goal is to honor Him
-- body, mind and spirit! For the price He paid for us, He deserves all of us!!
His, by Grace, Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment