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Monday, April 13, 2020

Seek the Good of Others {1 Corinthians 10}






Hallelujah, Jesus Christ has risen!  So much to be thankful for, in my opinion.  I know that Jesus lives and I have freedom – freedom to choose how I use that freedom.

I had been writing my posts a few weeks in advance since the beginning of the year.  Since I’ve been working from home during this pandemic, I’ve changed my pattern.

I’ve learned a lot about myself during these three and a half weeks.  I enjoy being home.  There’s a lot of freedom being here.  I get to wear whatever I want all day long.  I get to cook dinner every night far earlier than I ever have been able.  I can even bake while I’m at work!  I get to take walks around my yard and do some light yard work.  But the President of the United States and our governor has said to stay home.  Stay home – except for essential activities.  Essential activities are getting food – that you need to eat now, and personal care items.  Getting gasoline for our vehicles.  Getting necessary prescriptions filled.  We are encouraged to take a walk/exercise.

What we cannot do or should not do, is go to the store to wander.  Park in our friends and/or family’s driveways to chat.  Fill the parks with vehicles and people. 

1 Corinthians 10:23, Paul tells us that we are free, but that does not give us an excuse to do whatever we want.  God did not make us free so that we can act in a wicked way and we should not allow our emotions to control our lives.  People who do this are not free – they are slaves to their emotions.

The question we must ask ourselves is if we are behaving in a helpful manner.  We need to think about the results of our actions.  Yes, we can do whatever we want, but not every action will help people to trust God.  Some of our actions can ruin other people’s confidence in God.

Christians should always use their freedom to serve God.  God wants to guide and direct our lives.  He can show us what we should do.  If we obey Him, our actions will be good, useful and helpful.  And then we will achieve the results God wants in our lives.

How does our attitude toward other people affect this freedom?  God did not save us merely for our own benefit.  He wants to use our lives to help other people.

We should not be selfish.  We should not care too much about our own desires.  We must not allow our emotions to rule our lives.

It truly is much more important for Christians to think about other people.  They must think about how they can bring God’s good news to other people.  They must think about how they can help other people to trust God.  They must think about how, like Christ, they too can show God’s kindness to other people.


When we think about other people, we will not feel such a strong desire to please ourselves.  In this time of either a shut down, or stay at home order, may we remember that this is an act of charity.   We are called to serve one another.  We view life as sacred.

There’s a comic out there that I could not find, but it goes like this, “Hey Debbie.  It’s me the Lord.  Listen, you need to stop telling Facebook that your health is in my hands.  You are going to have to wash your hands and quarantine with everyone else.  Ok?”

I cannot help but think if our Lord would have walked away from His obligation.  Where would our freedom be?