







(S) cripture:

1 Corinthians 8:9-13 (NLT) " But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. For if others see you - with your "superior knowledge" - eating in the temple of an idol, won't they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? So because of your superior knowledge, a weaker believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed. And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. So if what i eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as i live - for i don't want to cause another believer to stumble"





(O)bservation :



The key line here for me here was "... And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ..."



But, the key phrase within that line was "...something they believe is wrong..." (which suggests that it really isn't about what you believe)



This takes me back to March 6th, 2013, when i finally submitted my life to Christ...i completely lost the desire to drink alcohol & engage in pre-marital sex instantly.



At the time, i believed that Christians weren't allowed to drink alcohol as it was reminiscent of a worldly lifestyle, and if we did drink, it was a sign that we were beginning to backslide or we weren't real christians, but as i grew in my knowledge of God and what Grace had made available, i realised that having a glass of beer or champagne once in a while, wouldn't be a bad idea after all, i was beginning to entertain the idea of drinking again. I now knew for a fact, alcohol didn't decide my relationship with God, only Jesus did .





Romans 8:39 "No power in the sky above or in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord"











In context, it means when you are in Christ, no amount of alcohol you drink can ever separate you from Him. Unfortunately for me, most people didn't understand this and unconsciously my friends were patiently waiting for this episode of PUNK'D to be over. My story was too good to be true, surely i would come out of this Jesus "hangover" at some point.



I was in a conundrum, i knew having a drink wasn't bad but it wasn't about what i believed...that line says "...something they believe is wrong...", i knew i was one drink away from discouraging these guys, one drink away from giving into their expectations, so i said goodbye to alcohol forever.



Verse 13 says "... So if what i eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as i live - for i don't want to cause another believer to stumble"



I believe the question shouldn't be "Can we drink alcohol as Christians?", the real question should be "Can we give up alcohol for our fellow brothers who don't fully understand it yet?"



Jesus sacrificed His life for us, surely we can sacrifice alcohol if it passes the wrong message to a fellow believer making him/her to stumble!!!





(A)pplication :

This is probably one of the best illustrations of Grace i have ever seen, it helps put things in perspective...it's just 3mins long, but will give you the clarity you need













Make a list of the things you are currently doing, that may be sending out the wrong message to other people, and identify the sacrifices you may have to make.





Personally, i feel i don't keep to my word enough...i may say i'll be going for an event, but when the day comes i'm probably too tired or the idea of traffic just discourages me and i have to break that commitment. It doesn't send the right message, because i serve a God who does what He says and I am expected to reflect Him to the world.





So, what i've decided to do is to never make promises i can't keep...and if i do make them, i have to keep them. A friend invited me for a programme this weekend, my response was "i can't promise, but i will try to make it"





I have been invited to host an event on Monday, i said 'yes' to it a few weeks back without thinking, but i have already committed to it, it isn't convenient for me right now to do it, but i'll have to sacrifice whatever comes in my way to make it happen.





So, what are you currently doing? Is it going out clubbing? Smoking? Do we see a different girl/guy on your arm every week? How do these things make you look? Will you have to make a sacrifice?









(P)rayer :

Father, i just thank You for Your sacrifice. You gave Your life so i could have mine...this is something i take for granted every single day. I ask for wisdom, wisdom to understand the depth of Your sacrifice for me, because i believe that the more i understand it, the more willing i will be to make sacrifices for others. Help everyone

reading

this, reveal to them the different ways their lives aren't giving you Glory, help them make those difficult decisions that will encourage more people to know You in Jesus Name.





"Seek First" is a platform inspired from Matthew 6:33 where we are encouraged to Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, live righteously, and everything we need will be given to us.



Our objective is to show you the practicality of this verse and hopefully inspire you to seek Him first daily. We use the S.O.A.P model as a study guide to help fulfill this mandate. We pick different scriptures and try to figure out how we can apply them to our daily lives, how they relate to the Kingdom of God and how we can live righteously through them. (S)cripture (O)bservation (A)pplication (P)rayer





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