Passage: 1Corth 8
So wow this is an interesting chapter. I’m sure some of you struggled to know how you can apply a topic about meat and idols to your everyday life and relationship with God. I’ll start with the verse that resonated with me the most.
vs.1 ‘…But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.’
When I started this blog the one area that the devil attacked me in was that I didn’t have the knowledge I needed. I am no bible scholar and I didn’t go to Bible Collage not even Bible Camp…but I do spend time in solitude with God. I also love God and want to encourage others to spend time with Him too. So I figured that was enough to get me started. I’m totally trusting in God that He will meet meet me and speak to me through His word on a daily basis and in turn share some thoughts with you. They’re not DEEP or earth shattering thoughts just little revelations God is showing me along the way as I continue to be formed in the clay.
Sometimes I think we can be too timid or fearful in order for God to use us in areas we are weak because it means we have to be vulnerable. But that’s when God can do the most amazing things through us and the more of God people see in our ministries/life than the less of us people see and that’s the point 🙂
So that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. 1 Corth 2:5 (NIV)
Looking back I realize a lot of the ministries I’ve been a part of where more about what I was ‘doing’. If there’s something that God is calling you to do and the devil is filling your head with noises than it’s going to be difficult to hear and obey God’s reassuring voice. God can start it, lead you through it and finish it. I am resting in that even in this very moment as I write this blog because these are God’s thoughts not mine so I just trust it all makes sense 🙂
This chapter talks a lot about idols and meat 🙂 It mentions that there are many different types of idols. I think there are more idols today than there where in Paul’s generation. We have to be careful not to allow idols to creep into our lives. Even our ministries can become our idols.
Here’s a great definition I found:
(noun) idol that on which the affections are strongly (often excessively) set; an object of passionate devotion; a person or thing greatly loved or adored
Now think about your day to day life and apply this definition to it. Chances are the things you prioritize the most are the things you are idolizing.
For me my career can easily become my idol. I am self employed so I have to ‘go after’ my own paycheck and this can easily become an obsession. After all I do have bills to pay so it’s a ”passionate devotion’ (a fancy way of saying its an idol). Idols are not real, God is real. But I believe we can make idols very ‘real’ in our own lives. I decided to write out what I think my idols are and pray for God to help me create a better balance and I’d love to encourage you to do the same. Just like we talked about knowing are weaknesses we must know what we truly are ‘passionately devoted’ to in order to maintain a balanced life.
Lastly Paul talks about our freedom in Christ. We are so privileged to have freedom in Christ but Paul warns us to not allow our choices to stumble others. Some people have real weaknesses and we need to be aware of that. Some people are not ok with something we have no issue with. We need to be sensitive to some of the struggles people around us may be having or the issues that they are not grounded in. Sometimes exercising our freedom can get very costly.
So I am about to press the ‘publish’ button and it never gets easier than the first time I pressed it. As an encouragement to us all please share a comment about how God is using you in a vulnerable way for His honer and glory!
“God’s plan was perfect and when I left my plans behind, God let me participate in His” ~ Lysa Terkeurst
In the clay,
Chantal Dube