I received a devotional via email last week and there was a section of it that hit me. I want to share that with you this week. It is an important concept that needs to be understood by those who call themselves Jesus Followers and honestly seek to do that.
Pastor Greg Laurie shared this insight in a e-mail devotional dated June 26, 2007. For those who don’t know who Pastor Laurie is, He is a pastor of Harvest Church in Riverside, CA – has a radio program called “A New Beginning” – and regularly conducts Harvest Crusades throughout the world (http://www.harvest.org/).
As Christians, we want to avoid the things that will hurt us spiritually. There are not only things that will build us up, but there are also things that will tear us down. When we start to do something, we should ask ourselves, Does this build me up spiritually?
Do you approach life with this perspective? Do you look at everything you do, think, say, and evaluate whether it honors Christ or not?
Pastor Laurie goes on to quote 1 Corinthians 10:23, “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive.” Paul was calling the Corinthians to look at what they were doing and evaluate.
We, as Jesus Followers, are given complete freedom but we are also given minds and hearts to discern what is good and what is not good. If we truly give our lives to Christ and follow Him no matter what, then everything we do from the minute we get up to the minute we go to bed should be drawing us closer to Him.
How do you spend your time? Do the activities you participate in draw you toward or away from Christ? The conversations you have, do they draw you toward or away from Christ? How you interact with you spouse and children does that draw them toward or away from Christ?
What’s even scarier is the verse Pastor Laurie quotes at the end, Romans 14:23. The last part of the verse says, “everything that does not come from faith is sin.” If you are participating in an activity or conversation that draws you or someone else away from Christ and faith in Him, you have sinned.
Man, is that convicting. I just think of the last 24 hours and how many things I have done to draw myself or others close to me away from Christ. God, please forgive my sin. How do you do this? It is not easy to make every activity and every interaction with people draw you closer to Christ.
I jumped over to the Bible Gateway and came across these verses that provide some measure of encouragement for how to keep our minds, hearts, speech, and activity focused on Christ.
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. – Proverbs 4:23
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. – Philippians 4:6-8
God’s word is so clear and relevant! Guard your heart and mind – protect it from anything that is not worth thinking about. How? Philippians 4:6-8 makes it really clear what we need to do. We need to pray and extend thanks to God and He will work to guard our hearts and minds. We also need to turn our thoughts toward those things that honor God.
In turning our thoughts and heart toward Godly things, our actions and conversations should then follow. None of this is easy to do, but with prayer and God anything is possible.
Apply yourself to pursuing God in everything and living a life that encourages others to do the same.
