A Man After My Heart

Paul is the man after my heart these days. I love what he stood for and he wasn’t afraid to say it. I cant wait to study more of his journey and learn what God has to teach me. I long to be like Paul who longed to be holy as Christ was holy. It really is my heart for those around me to live holy and for those that I come in contact to see that holiness in me.

I have so much spiritual passion in me right now and I just want to shout it from the rooftops. That is crazy. Good but crazy. God is just so good because he knows how to teach us what we need to know, when we need to know it and the way He knows we will get it best. I feel like God has been speaking to me so much about life and how He wants us to live it for Him so that those around us can see Christ in us, and want what we have. For so long Christianity has been looked down upon and is the most picked on religion out there. We have to be so careful what we do because so many others are watching and we are responsible for the lives of those people. Yes that is correct. We are responsible for our brother.

(1 Corithians 10:23-33)NLT says (so you don’t have to look it up) Bold is mine

23You say,” I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is helpful. You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is beneficial. 24Don't think only for your on good. Think of other Christians and what is best for them. (now here is what Paul says we should do)
25Here's what you should do. You may eat any meat that is sold in the market place. Don’t ask whether or not it was offered to idols, and then your conscience wont be bothered. 26For "the earth is the Lords and everything in it" 27If someone who isn’t a Christian asks you home for dinner, go ahead; accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you and don’t ask any questions about it. Your conscience should not be bothered by this. 28But suppose someone warns you that this meat has been offered to an idol. Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you. 29It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person. Now, why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks? 30If I think God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be commended for eating it? 31Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, you must do all for the glory of God. 32Don't give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God. 33That is the plan I follow too. I try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what I like or what is best for me, but what is best for them so they may be saved.

I felt like Steven Furtick when He said I am going to read all of these verses before I say anything and everyone laughed because he never does that. As I was writing I wanted to talk after each verse.

You see Paul was saying that just because something is permissible and not a sin doesn’t mean that it is good for us or the ones around us. We need to be considerate towards others and not think of only ourselves. Our argument is, well it is not a sin. Listen, it is not about whether it is a sin or not a sin. That is not the point. That is what the enemy wants us to focus on. People being saved and living holy is the point. It is about the people around us, Christians and non Christians and how they see us. Are we causing them to stumble or keeping them from God? Whether we like it or not, the world does not see Christians the way we want to be seen. You can read the book Unchristian and see for yourself. We have a reputation and that is just the way it is so we have to do everything in our power to make good decisions about what we do in public and behind closed doors.

At the same time, God doesn’t want us to be legalistic about it either. Paul says in verses 25-27 not to ask whether or not the meat was offered to idols. So, don’t go looking for problems. But if it comes up then put God before yourself and make sure that whatever you are doing it is glorifying Him, and not like I said earlier, causing another one to stumble. Why should we worry about someone else? Because it is our job to live our lives so that they may be saved.

For example, there are things out there is this world that have much heavier consequences if we go down that road, drinking, gambling, inappropriate relationships etc. Those things can lead to death, financial ruin, infidelity etc. Something like not drinking caffeine may have been put on my heart by God, but what is the worst thing that can happen if I drink caffeine. Get my point? We have to focus on the things that are heavily affecting our nation and things that we can change. If God brings small things to us that we need to focus on like music, movies, clothing etc then we need to obey what he is telling us individually as they are revealed to us. I love how Paul challenges and stretches us as he teaches us this.

Lord, I thank you that we have your living word to teach us how to live holy lives. Thank you that you used Paul’s fearless approach to teach us. Help me to give up myself to you and make it less of me, more of you. Take my heart and make it clean. Open up my eyes to the things unseen. Teach me how to love like you have loved me. I pray this prayer for me and all those who I come in contact with. In Jesus Name.