Freedom For Today

Take a moment to read 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 before reading the devotional below.

Sex is a complicated topic for so many reasons. Today’s passage offers one of the more challenging ideas in the Bible: just because something is technically “allowed” doesn’t make it good for you. We are constantly on the look out for loop-holes to justify our actions. There is a lot more grey than black-and-white when it comes to how we manage our bodies. Paul is reminding us that loop-hole thinking isn’t freedom, and it’s not what following Jesus is all about.

When we make a decision to give our lives to Jesus, we give him everything, including our bodies. The Holy Spirit is given to us to live inside us — our bodies are his home. We care for ourselves not only because it brings freedom to our lives, but also because we want to reflect the Holy Spirit. The light that lives in you can shine through based on what you do with your body.

Here’s your freedom for today:

Your body was designed to be honored.

Unfortunately, there are many things in this world that dishonor our bodies. Sometimes other people dishonor us through abuse, neglect, or other types of physical harm. Sometimes we dishonor ourselves by engaging in behavior that harms us. You were created for much more than that. Jesus offers you freedom, dignity, and honor. No matter what has happened in your past, he invites you to live in honor today.

Take a moment to read 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 before reading the devotional below.

Do you know who you really are? As a follower of Jesus, that is a complex answer. You are a child of God, an heir and ruler in his kingdom. If you have seen or read The Chronicles of Narnia, think sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. You are a prince or princess meant for a greater purpose. In today’s passage, Paul challenges the Corinthian believers to live our their true identity. And it requires extra grace.

Lawsuits are never fun, but when two Christians are unable to resolve an argument it signals a serious spiritual problem. And the problem is not only between the two believers involved — rather it is a systemic problem with the trustworthiness and safety of the church. I can think of plenty of situations that need to be handled by outside courts for a whole lot of reasons. In fact, some “keep it in-house” thinking has created serious abuse scandals and cover-ups in the church. Rather than being a place of fairness and Christlikeness, “in-house” structures are generally present to protect those in power. That’s not the church.

Here’s your freedom for today:

You can make a difference.

I can’t change the impurities in the church. You can’t change them. But if each of us seeks to set aside our pride and our desires and live like Jesus, we might make a splash of difference. All of us together through the work of the Holy Spirit adds up to systemic change. Jesus protects the oppressed. If we all did that, we could handle a lot of things a whole lot better. Jesus didn’t let people get away with unfair, one-sided punishments (think the women caught in adultery — takes two for that crime…). I believe that Jesus is the answer and hope of the world, and I believe that the church can heal. We aren’t who we used to be: idolaters, prostitutes, promiscuous people, drunks, thieves, greedy people, or abusers. We used to be, but in Jesus we have a new identity. We have the freedom to be more — sons and daughters ruling God’s kingdom alongside Jesus! How could you step into your true identity today?

Take a moment to read 1 Corinthians 5 before reading the devotional below.

Today’s passage is the entire chapter because the entire idea is important to consider all at once. Recall from yesterday’s devotional that the Corinthians have become spiritually prideful and think that they are growing more than they actually are. Here we see a specific example of something going wrong: a man in their congregation is sleeping with his stepmother. This could be translated as “his father’s wife,” but either way it is clear it is not his biological mother. Although this is not a case of direct incest, it is not how followers of Jesus behave.

This chapter is the only time in the Bible that we are told to judge. Paul acknowledges that the rest of Scripture tells us not to judge, and this remains true about unbelievers. We are specifically told over and over again not to judge anyone who does not claim to be a Christian. However, when a person claims to follow Jesus, there is a role in other believers using discernment and judgment to determine whether or not that person can remain in the church. He offers a list of offenses that are so unlike Jesus they are evidence that a person is not a genuine believer: sexual sin, greed, idol worship, abuse, alcoholism, and cheating. You cannot claim to know Jesus and do these things.

Here’s your freedom for today:

You can live a free life when you follow Jesus.

Being a Christian is not about church attendance or being a nice person. It is about living a free life. When sex, greed, idols, abusive behavior, substances, or cheating are defining your life, you are not free. We turn our will and our lives over to Jesus when we begin to follow him. We receive forgiveness and turn away from our old ways of living. One of the biggest problems in the American church is that we are selective in the attention we pay to sin. Certain types of sexual sin are considered “worse” than others. Abusive husbands and fathers are not being driven out of the church in droves (and instead, sometimes are the elders of the church…). We need to be careful to follow the whole of Scripture in how we address these issues, and we need to keep the freedom of the Gospel in mind. There are some claiming to be believers and heralded as “Christian leaders” who are greedy, cheaters, and hungry for political power. They abuse others to get ahead. And often they are the loudest voices shouting about those committing sexual sins (while they secretly have their own). These false teachers are harming the Gospel and need to be publicly challenged and removed by other Christians. Unfortunately, we tend to do the opposite of this passage: judge unbelievers and give those who claim to be Christians the benefit of the doubt. How can we get back to the heart of this passage?

Take a moment to read 1 Corinthians 4:8-21 before reading the devotional below.

The Bible claims to be the inspired word of God, written for our instruction and learning. We have to keep that in mind as we read today’s passage because Paul seems quite upset. We might view his writing to the Corinthians as self-centered or having an ax to grind. Why would God inspire him to write these words? What are we to learn here?

We don’t know the entire situation, but so far Paul has made a lot of points about human leaders. In previous sections, he has made sure they know that it all comes back to Jesus, not Paul or Apollos or anyone else. Here he is pointing out that they see to be forgetting the significance of the work he had done with them. When we take for granted a gift God has given us, pride is often a result.

Here’s your freedom for today:

The Gospel isn’t about a “feel good” experience.

Paul lived a life of sacrifice. The apostles were ridiculed and persecuted, and many of them died as martyrs. (Some have claimed that Peter died by crucifixion, hung upside-down on a cross.) These Corinthian believers were becoming prideful, minimizing the gift God had given them in their beginnings with the apostle Paul. They were riding high on their spiritual lives, when they were not enduring even close to the sacrifice Paul and the other apostles were enduring. There was something empty about some of the leaders and preachers rising up among them. Paul knew more than anyone that the Gospel was not about a “feel good” experience. They were engaged in a spiritual war with real casualties and prisoners. Paul risked his life daily. Does your life sound more like the Corinthians or like Paul’s? How can you maintain a humility about your faith and avoid thinking you are better than you are?

Take a moment to read 1 Corinthians 4:1-7 before reading the devotional below.

When you are doing supernatural things, it’s hard to know how you are doing. That’s why in today’s passage, Paul says he doesn’t trust humans (including himself) to make that call. Even when our conscience is clear, we might not be supernaturally effective. Only God can judge our progress and our actions.

Why do we spend so much time judging each other? Some might even claim that Christians are supposed to judge other people (as some kind of moral police?). Nothing could be farther from the truth. Here Paul tells us that judging others is not our right. He says, “Don’t judge people ahead of time…” What “time” is he talking about? The end of the world. God’s Judgment Day. So if it’s before that (which it is), there’s no room for judgment.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God sees the real you.

That “freedom” word might sound a little scary. God sees the real me?? I hope not… The thing is, when God sees the real you, he loves you. Remember that house we talked about yesterday? We build our foundation on Christ. We serve other followers of Jesus together as one house or one body. Within that, God is the only one that has any right to judge you or evaluate your spiritual life. He knows your heart, and he loves you. Often we judge others because of our own insecurities. What would it mean for you to be confident enough in your own relationship with God that you don’t need to evaluate anyone else? When God sees the real you, it means that his relationship with you is secure. He’s not going anywhere. You can rest in that and press into shaky and supernatural places without regard for how anyone else is doing.