The Result of Doing It Your Way

1Corinthians 6:12-13(NLT)
12 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. 13 You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.

Through the Apostle Paul, God told the Corinthian church to steer clear of behaviors that would jeopardize their relationship with Him. In the twelfth verse of this passage, God is teaching us about free-will choice. He’s given us the mind and physicality to make a decision or choice mentally, and then proceed to bring this thought into fruition by acting on the choice we’ve made. We can do this any time we choose, but God also informs us that there is a consequence to our actions. Enslavement can occur if we are not careful about what we choose. Therefore, we should not make the mistake here of underestimating God’s warning about bad judgment and a lack of discernment.

Jesus Christ teaches us in Luke 14:28(NLT),But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?” His warning should make us understand that deep and intellectual thought should precede our decisions. In other words, we should do some calculating about the aftermath of our decisions before our choice is made. Our decision-making process should include careful deliberation on where we are spiritually. If we’ve not considered the snares and plots that might lay ahead, and if we have not examined whether our faith will endure, we may not have the flexibility, stamina, and strength to make it to the finish line.

Free-will choice means we can do anything that is humanly possible to do during our sojourn on earth, but there will always be cost to the decisions and choices we carry through. This is why God warns us against becoming a slave to anything. He then goes on to remind us that He is the Creator of our being, and He made our physical bodies specifically for His plan and purpose. Just as we know what foods are digestible in the stomach and nourishing to the body, we should also know that sin is destructive and tears the body down.

God holds His children to His standard of holiness, and we should only want to do those things that please Him. With greater knowledge comes a greater responsibility, so we are held accountable by God when we know right from wrong. This is not a small thing, but we often think of God’s standard as trivial in our quest to be married. We make getting married the thing, when the ‘thing’ should be getting closer to God through Christ and making the example of Christ the standard of our daily living.

God tells us in Psalm 1:1 that He blesses those who do not walk according to advice and ways of the wicked, and He blesses those who do not stand for evil, lies, and making fun of others. Instead, He blesses those who delight in His standard and who study what He says in His Word. By this we must know that every choice we make is consequential, because every choice either brings us closer to God or takes us further from Him. Our choices demonstrate whether we truly love God or if we’re ignoring His Word and doing our own thing. If we persist in ignoring God’s way, which is the way of Godliness, and we continue doing things our own way, we will not be pleased with the results we receive in life.

Romans 12:2(NLT) tells us, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” We must not allow our vision of God’s requirements for Godliness to become more and more watered down by society. God’s way works! As Christian singles, it’s our privilege and responsibility to walk in God’s way and make sure our choices and decisions uphold His standard. This is what’s important to God, and the next level of blessings in your life is dependent upon how important His standard is to you.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“The Result of Doing It Your Way”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2022.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.

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