PASTORS' DAILY DEVOTIONAL
Mar
23

Be All That You Can Be

Craig Peterson

Scripture
I Cor. 8:9-139 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.


Observation
There are activities that are not wrong for us to do. Things that pose no problem of sin or disobedience. But, if those things are misunderstood or misinterpreted by a brother or sister with less knowledge ar understanding and it causes them to stumble, we are guilty of wounding their weak conscience and we actually sin.
Application
I know a young man who likes to do and say whatever comes to his mind. He's not necessarily dong or saying anything that is "wrong"...in and of itself. But, many times, what he says and does has a negative affect on those around him. He can make people who are close to him feel very poorly about themselves. He can make people around him second guess and doubt themselves when they really have no reason to. When called out, his response is normally, "what, I didn't do anything wrong". What he is missing is the fact that we have responsibility that extends beyond our rights. As beleivers, we have responsibilty to build others up. We have responsibility to keep from tripping others up. We have responsibility to do our best to help others to grow in their knowledge and understanding of Jesus. When we realize that our responsibility goes beyond our rights and get in the habit of being a positive Christian influence in the lives of others, we understand that we are not missing out on anything. Rather, we experence joy and contentment beyond what we could have imagined.
Prayer
Lord, expand my understanding of how I affect others and give me the ability to see the potential positive influence I can become as I look beyond myself. Help me to be a servant who encourages others to be all they can be...all you have created me and them to be!

Devotions for March 23

Joshua 15,16,17
1 Corinthians 8

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