- Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 1 Corinthians 10:24 – Much of this letter Paul is seeking to answer the Corinthian church’s questions on what’s allowed to do and what’s not. The posture of the church seems to be, “What can I get away with and still be considered a Christian?” How far can I go with sexual immortality and not be in the wrong? What connection can I have still with the pagan temples and not be in trouble? Where is the edge of all these things for I want to get as close as I can to it without falling over into sin. Paul then is having to navigate the difficult message of telling the church they have great freedoms in Christ to do so many things and that their life is eternally secure in Christ. Yet, not everything builds up. While “allowed” to do such things in Christ, not all things build you up nor build up the people around you. Paul then shares this verse, stop thinking about yourself only in this life. See your neighbor, see the people around you, and ask how can I use my life to encourage growth in their walk with the Lord? Can you see the vast difference there? Going from, “What can I get away with and still be Christian,” to, “How can my life help another person draw close to Jesus?” Both are living in the freedoms we have in Christ, but only one is truly fulfilling the calling God has given us. Your life is such a powerful tool God can use to bring others to Him. Find yourself daily seeking not how to use your life to please you, but to use it to lead others to the Savior that can change their whole story. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3117
- Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. (v.6) I know this sounds bad, but for the longest time whenever someone asked me about my older brother, I told them I loved having him. That’s not that bad part, but as to why I loved having him was. I always replied, “I love having him as an older brother, I see all the dumb things he did and know not to do them myself.” Even writing that down sounds so horrible and for future reference, I love my brother for more reasons than that! But in all reality, there is some truth to a statement like that. See we can read about all the struggles the nation of Israel went through in the Old Testament and wonder why their failings are recorded so often. This passage in 1 Corinthians gives us an understanding why God included their failings and it was for us. The nation of Israel struggled often to follow the direction of God and had to deal with the consequences for that failure to follow. God though doesn’t want us, His current church, to have to walk through the same struggles and consequences the church before us went though. We can see in scripture that choosing to devote ourselves to something other than God isn’t going to fulfill us. We can see in scripture that God will always provide for those that are following Him. We can see from scripture that God has a tremendous amount of grace for those who fail but desire forgiveness. Let’s take the messages that scriptures hold and rather than just reading it, holding fast to it. Due to the messages we find in scripture, we can move ahead in ways that the church before us never could have, all because of the lessons we can learn from them. God gave us His word so we can move closer to Him not stay where we are at. Let’s move the church ahead not camp where the church has camped already. – Daily DEVO 13
- No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 – This passage often gets misused and misunderstood, so let’s unpack what it says here about temptation in our life. First that the temptations you are facing are not unique but ones that other people have faced meaning others can help. Second God is with you during the temptation and knows how much will be too much and won’t let you get to that point. And lastly, God always provides a different route to take than just to fall into the temptation. After hearing all that, I question myself as to why I’ve fallen into temptations in my life so easily. God is with me, taking care of me, and always provides as way out for me. He has done and will continue to do the same for you. Know your temptations you are facing don’t have to control you. With God, you can actually make a different choice than just falling into them like before. Seek His way of escape this time to see for yourself how He can help. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 712
- Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. 1 Corinthians 10:32-33 – Paul was not a people pleaser as we think of it today. He was willing to check people on their wrong doings and wasn’t the type to back down when it came to standing up for His beliefs. Yet we see here a posture Paul is taking when it comes to relating and existing with others. Paul is seeking to live as peacefully as possible with others, not seeking to cause unnecessary offense. And the point of it all was so that peace would open doors to gospel conversations. We must ask ourselves is there enough peace within the relationships we have where we could have a gospel conversation with them and they’d listen? If not, what’s the cause of the lack of peace? Make sure the lack of peace isn’t a result of our pride or self-righteousness. As far as it depends on us there should be peace in our connections with others. Not so we can be elevated in anyway, but so we can help them come to know Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1777
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