We then who are strong ought to bear with the
scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbour for his good, leading to edification. For
even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches
of those who reproached you fell on me." – Romans 15.1-3
Most of us have no problem pleasing ourselves. I mean NO problem.
It has been hot here for a few days, very hot for Ireland. We have bordered on
30C and may well break that in next few days. I had a great example of
self-pleasing last night. Mary made me a root beer float. I took great pleasure
in that. At work yesterday I had ribs. That pleased me too.
Now those are innocent examples of pleasing self, but they
are examples of how much we like to take care of us.
Sometimes it can be much more serious.
Sometimes we can please ourselves at the expense of bearing with
the struggles others are having. Doing what we have the liberty to do can take precedence
over helping others with their weakness.
Obviously, none of us have it all figured out so there is no
reason for arrogance. We can never have the attitude that ‘I could do this or
that if I wanted to, but I will not do it because you are a weaker brother and
it will offend you.’ Hopefully none of us would ever say that, but we all known
we can show the same through a look or a tone of voice or our body language.
The more we look at this the more we see that it is not just
about us and our liberty. Surely, we cannot let galatianism restrict our
liberty in Christ. But we also need to be sure we use our liberty to love each
other.
1 comment:
The Lord is my Righteousness and my Salvation.
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