“‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” – 1 Corinthians 10:23-24

In Christ, every believer has tremendous freedom. Free from death. Free from sin’s awful power. Free from having to try and reconcile ourselves to our perfect, holy Creator through perfect behavior. The question is, how does Jesus want you to use the freedom He died to give you? Is the grace of God your excuse to indulge every petty personal sin, knowing that God will forgive it in Christ? No! Is your freedom from having to try and save yourself by scrupulous rule-following your invitation to waste your life on pointless and petty indulgences? No!

The freedom given to you by your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ should be used well. It should be a source of blessing to others. It should build you up in Christ rather than wasting your life on trivialities. How can you use your freedom to help others gain that same freedom through faith in Jesus as their Lord? How can you freely give of your time, talent, and treasure to set others free through the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? How can you invest yourself in the spiritual growth of fellow believers? How can you pour out your life for the glory of God rather than your own glory?

These are the great questions that you are free to wrestle with and live out the answer that pleases Jesus. You are free to choose to make sacrifices, not out of fear, compulsion, or guilt, but out of the overflow of grace and joy in your life. You are free to voluntarily limit yourself to reach others with good news. You are free to build God’s Kingdom with excitement about the coming day when Jesus will return to complete it. What are you free to do for the Lord? Will you do it? Will you #FollowJesus?

“To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.” – 1 Corinthians 9:21

How far are you willing to go outside your comfort zone to share the Gospel with people currently facing an eternity in Hell? Seriously! Paul set the example for us to imitate. He showed how we should be willing to break out of our rigid patterns, comforts, and rhythms of life to reach people far from God. To go where they are with the hope of rescue. Not engaging in sin. Not breaking any command of God’s. But willing to be flexible about every matter of preference, taste, style, or practice in order to build relationships and introduce people to Christ.

All around you, people are facing an eternity apart from God. Thousands of them. Millions of them. Billions of them! Some know it. Some don’t. All need to hear the good news that eternal life is freely available to them through faith in Jesus Christ. What they do with that news is between them and God. But will you do anything and everything you possibly can to get that news to them? Yes? No? Maybe?

Is any sacrifice too much to rescue even one person from eternal damnation? Are you sure? What, where, and to whom is God calling you? #FollowJesus

“This ‘knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.” – 1 Corinthians 8:1b-2

Knowledge is a good thing. There’s no excuse for a Christian to not use the mind God gave them. After all, we’re commanded to love the Lord with ALL our mind. That said, having knowledge while lacking humility is a problem. Most people who have a lot of knowledge understand how little they truly know. Their knowledge humbles them rather than inflating their egos. On the other hand, a little knowledge can easily make a person proud, arrogant, and contemptuous toward those with less knowledge (or different knowledge). It’s the “little knowledge” stage that’s particularly dangerous, when we know what we know but don’t know how much we don’t know.

Knowledge is a good thing but love is a better thing! Love should always be the most visible mark of someone saved from their sins as a gift of God’s grace given through faith in Jesus Christ. Love for God. Love from God. Love for other people. Such love blesses others. Builds them up. Points them toward Jesus. Knowledge without humility does the opposite. It undermines others. Tears people down. Turns them away from Jesus. Always choose to emphasize love over knowledge.

So, what’s your balance between love and knowledge? And what do you know? Are you building knowledge about what’s true, righteous, holy, and worthy of honor in Christ? If so, that’s excellent! But are you building your love even more? #FollowJesus

“Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!”
– Psalm 43:3

Whenever you find yourself in darkness or despair, lift up this same prayer. Let God’s light bring you back to Him. The truth is He never left you. Not if Jesus is your Lord. It’s just that it can be easy to become blind to His presence because of busyness, distraction, earthly circumstances, or sin. Nonetheless, God’s light can cut through any and all darkness. Turn to His written word, the Bible, and read once more of the truth of His love for you that has been demonstrated in the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. Turn to Him, the Word Made Flesh, Jesus Christ, your Savior. Cry out to Him and let Him comfort, strengthen, love, and guide you out of darkness and into His radiant light.

If you find yourself in darkness, don’t choose to stay there. Don’t stubbornly insist on finding your own way to the light. God is the light. Turn to Him, no matter how dark things may be or how far from Him you feel. His love, grace, and mercy are always ready to lead you back into the light of His presence. #FollowJesus

“I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”
– Psalm 40:8

Doing God’s will isn’t a burdensome chore or endless grind for God’s people. He didn’t give His commands to make you miserable or leave you trudging through tedium. He didn’t prepare good works for you to do just to grind you down through them. Far from it! When you’re faithful to do His will, you quickly discover that it’s a source of tremendous joy and delight!

To know and do God’s Word and will, having been saved and transformed by God’s Son and filled with God’s Spirit is the path to a life of dignity, purpose, delight, and contentment. It may not be easy. It may not be comfortable. It may not be safe. Nonetheless, to labor FOR the Lord is to labor WITH the Lord. To labor WITH the Lord is to labor with the Lord living IN you and empowering you to do His will. This is why Jesus encouraged us that His yoke was easy and His burden light. Who and what are you laboring for this Labor Day? #FollowJesus