| I Cor 10:23 |
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10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
I was watching the news today and was listening to pundits talk about the Gov. of New York and the indiscretion that he was caught in.....they were trying to figure out (as many are) why so many men in a position of power fall prey to sexual issues such as this.....
It got me to thinking about this verse in I Corinthians. And our bodies. God created our bodies with the ability to feel certain pleasures. There are many things on this earth that (again, many are natural elements created by God) can enhance the feeling of pleasure for us......
God wants us to learn how to limit ourselves in this area of pleasure. Sometimes and certain pleasures should not even be practiced by Christians. This is all left up to each person to work out in their relationship with God and study of His word.
I guess what these thoughts are saying to me is that everything must be done with a sense of balance....nothing to extremes. I can eat a piece of chocolate. That provides an EXTREME sense of pleasure for me. But if I were to sit down and eat a whole package of Chips ahoy (which I am ashamed to say I've done before)...well...I think I've overindulged. Just because we can enjoy certain things and they give us pleasure doesn't mean that we should do them.
By no means am I comparing an adulterous relationship to eating a whole box of cookies...the message here is balance. And watching what we indulge in for pleasure. God wants us to be happy and wants us to feel pleasure. But it should be done within the context of balance and what is right....and, as the verse says...what is edifying...not only to God....but to ourselves...and those around us.
I feel that I rambled a little...but I hope the message I was trying to convey gets out. God wants us to be happy - but we shouldn't use the pleasures we can find here on earth to replace ultimate joy and pleasure that comes from serving God. He can give us joy and pleasure beyond anything that we could ever find here on earth. |
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