SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 6-8
“I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 7:35)
Paul is not being bossy or demanding, like an autocratic leader.
His words about lawsuits, sexual immorality, marriage, divorce, singleness, and food sacrificed to idols are out of concern.
It is a time of crisis, persecution, difficulty for believers (1 Corinthians 7:26).
I can think of similar words of wisdom I might say to my kids, because I love them.
What is the heart of what Paul says: don’t live like non-believers, more by passion than by faith.
“Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.” (1 Corinthians 7:17)
What does it mean for me to live as a believer in my situation?
What are the moral pitfalls and dangers I face, that I need to avoid, that I need to resist?
For me as a pastor, for you as a child-care worker, a teacher, a business person, a retiree?
As someone married or single, as a citizen of Canada, a father or mother, a church member, a prisoner?
Whatever situation we are in, when God calls us He wants us to be like Jesus in that context.
Don’t live like the world, live like Jesus in the world: wise, humble, loving, moral, devoted!
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, I hear Paul’s concern, even if I can’t relate to all the specifics of what he says. Help me to hear Your heart through Him, and to apply what He says to my own context.