Psalm 119:89-176, 1 Corinthians 8 • Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 8:13

My family enjoys cooking out on the grill. We have been known to brush off the snow and fire it up on days that most people stay indoors. I’ll triamp Out into the snow, tend, to the meat and tramp back into the house. There is nothing like the smell and taste of a grilled dinner.

I think of a. nicely cooked steak on my plate every time I read 1 Corinthians 8:13. Paul, who understood Christian liberty, wrote extensively on the subject and lived it in the context of the first-century church, said he would never eat meat again if it would cause another brother to fall into sin.

That is absolutely amazing to me. First, I’m amazed that he would give up eating meat! I think of what a sacrifice that would be and wonder whether or not I could do the same.

Second, Paul knew he had rights, which he discussed in the next chapter, but he was willing to set them aside. We tend instead to insist, on our rights.

Third, it is simply amazing to see how concerned Paul was for the spiritual welfare of others. More important than a nicely grilled steak was the well-being of others. His focus was not on himself.

Are you concerned about others, enough to give up something that you enjoy, something that is not a sin? Paul is an amazing example of one who did not live for self but for others.

We can have an extended discussion of what is right, wrong or gray and in the process lose sight of what Paul was saying. He was concerned for others. Are you? Is there anything you absolutely would not give up if you knew it caused another to sin?

Woodrow Kroll & Tony Beckett
www.backtothebible.in