Tuesday // 19th March 2024
Use your freedom responsibly!
Be careful, however, not to let your freedom of action make those who are weak in the faith fall into sin.
1 Corinthians 8:9 GNT
We read in 1 Corinthians 8:9-13 we read that some people were offended by eating meat sacrificed to idols. Paul called them “brethren” because they were saved, born- again people. They had the Holy Spirit. The problem was, they were still oppressed by their old pagan life. So when they saw meat that they used to offer to idols, they still saw the idols with the meat. They had been delivered from that old culture and lifestyle, but they weren’t free in their thinking to progress spiritually.
Our former idols today don’t usually consist of wood and stone idols. An idol may be a former hobby that God wants you to cut down on to give Him more time. Or it may be a habit you gave up that keeps trying to come back. If you aren’t free in your mind after conversion, even your eating can become bondage. When you are free, your mind needs to be free with you.
Paul declared that he would back down from freedom if it would prevent others from sinning. “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible” (1 Corinthians 9:19). In his freedom, Paul put serving others above his own desires. He went where the oppressed people were and, through the truth, delivered them into freedom. There is no true freedom without responsibility.
Your brother in Christ,
Apostle Ashok Martin