August #jammed: Reflecting on Grace.

Day 217: Know when not to listen.

“But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.” 1 Corinthians 8:9

Why did I do that?

I know better.

That was embarrassing.

When will I ever learn?

We’ve all been there, and most of the time we land in these expressions because we entertained ones like these:

It’s OK!

Come on!

Don’t worry about it!

What’s it going to hurt?

Today’s verse reminds us to be careful who we listen to. It’s easy to be persuaded to do something we’re already tempted to do. Our flesh and the devil’s prodding mixed with bad influence and the wrong environment leave us living in regret.

God created us all equal, but when we accept Christ as our Savior, there is a big difference in conscious. Once we’ve walked with Him for a while, we know too much to enjoy going down old roads with dead ends. We pray not to be included, because when we are, we don’t trust ourselves in an environment where old habits can creep back in through the cracks.

The damage is not just in the embarrassment of acting in a way that does not honor God. We are forgiven, which is the very freedom this verse speaks of. God promises in 1John 1:9 that if we confess our sins He is faithful and forgives us.

But what about those that were watching?

If we’re not careful, we can make Christianity seem like a hall pass to do whatever we want, no matter what Jesus would do or God has to say about it. “Others with a weaker conscious” are libel to stumble, because they don’t know what we know. They don’t know Him like we do, so our confession makes no sense to them. At least, not the right kind of sense.

It’s important to mingle with all crowds, but never worth being in a situation where we might be tempted to misrepresent what it means to walk with Jesus.

Father, Praise You for knowing everything there is to know about us. Thank Your for providing a way out of situation that is too much for us to bear. Forgive us for thinking we can handle things that are beyond our human frailty to manage, and help us to bravely step away from situations and people that attempt to trip us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Friend-ing

Megs

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