Is it beneficial?

I Corinthians 10:23-24

 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the image you cast.  It talked about how teachers would be judged more strictly.   In it I mentioned that I wasn’t pleased with the impression that the teachers at my son’s school were casting on social media.  Well, this week I got myself in some trouble with the principal.  I spoke up about the issue I saw.  While it was a bit awkward, I felt like it was still the right thing to do. 

The principal made comment that they are old enough to do the things they were doing and that it was their own Facebook account.  I told her that I agreed, however that they have to realize that while they may have the right to do something, it does not mean that it is good for them or for those that they influence.  Immediately, these verses came to my mind. 

There are things that we all face that we have the right to do, however as Christians, we should be asking ourselves if it is beneficial.  And not just for ourselves but also for those that see us. 

I want to ask the same question that I asked two weeks ago:  Would others know that you are a Christian by what you post to Social Media?  Remember, some of what gets posted is not beneficial to ourselves or those around us.

Godly Intent

Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.  For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.  Matthew 7:1-2 

One things a friend told me is that they talk with me because I do not judge them.  I am not sure if that is a compliment or a curse.  Nonetheless, it comes from a genuine belief that if you spend a lot of time thinking how to correct a person, you cannot truly understand them.  Why?  The key to listening is to gain understanding of another person.  Not judge whether they are right or wrong.  That is only part of the nonjudgmental equation.  The second part is to assume the best of others.  Not the worst.  For example, when someone commits a sin, we can draw one of two conclusions.  Either one, we could go the Samuel L. Jackson route yelling, “Yes, they deserve to die, and I hope they burn in Hell.”  Or, we are like the loving God who looks at His child saying, “My child, why would you do that?  Do you think that pleases me” response.  The first version is judging that turns off the listener.  The second version is understanding Godly intent that seeks understanding of both your and their relationship with God. 

We must focus on Godly intent with others and ourselves.  I am always saddened when I have failed God.  I find myself thinking like Paul did when he said, “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.  I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” (Romans 7:14-15)  These verses are not an endorsement of sin.  Instead, they are a realistic look of our journey of faith that reminds us we all at times struggle.  We face challenges with sin, and God looks at those who have not accepted Christ with judgment.  However through Jesus Christ, we are looked on with the thought, “What can we learn from this?”  Do we grow from it, or do we continually let sin eat away at our character?  This is what Godly intent is about.  It means we look to do better even as we may have failed.  It focuses on what do we know and how could we do better.  The best thing is if we indeed get better and grow, our relationship with God grows with it. 

Understanding this, we must look at others the same way.  This is the underlining message of today’s verses.  If God looks at us with the intent we mean well even as we fail, we too must take that approach with others.  It makes the person that is supposedly beyond redeeming as a person we seek to understand why that is the case.  It becomes less about the sin and more about the person committing it.  It says, “I love you as you are,” and that is a message that a person supposedly beyond redemption may have never heard and often is desperate to hear. 

God loves us for both who we are and who we can be.  Should we accept this and continue to grow, God will be pleased.  Furthermore if we look unto others with that same belief, they perhaps will see the love of God they so long to have in their lives.  So let us push toward being open to understanding and less on judging.  When do you know you are judging and not listening?  How can you create for others a judgment free zone?  My prayer is that we remember how God’s showed us grace, and when talking to others, we have Godly intent.  Amen. 

Tues Devo: Boundary Line

Hello – I apologize for the delay the past couple of weeks and getting this out in the evening. I will strive for improvement moving forward!

1 Peter 2:11-12  “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” (NASB)

As I was reading this part of the chapter I was thinking about how many times we hear about people being “in the wrong place at the wrong time”. We love to push the boundary. We like to go as far as we can justify to ourselves, and then just make sure not to cross that last piece of the line. But the reality is that when we push as far as we can to the line, we have little defense when things go down. Peter urges us here to stay back – draw our line further so that whatever things we are accused of are clearly not true. The rest of chapter 2 Peter talks about submitting to authority in this same vein, and the illustration of Christ and His lived out example. Peter mentions in verse 23 that Christ didn’t get caught up in retaliation – but just kept doing what He needed to do. Not only did He not retaliate, but He didn’t threaten it either – He kept His boundary line back from “crossing” to where it was clearly not an improper response.

I encourage all of us to look in our lives at where our actions/words/choices have proven out boundary lines to be.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill