February 7

 

BEYOND THE BOUNDARY

 

1 Corinthians 6:12 

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything

 

Most of us won't often be tempted to commit obvious sins such as armed robbery, murder or rape. Satan's tack is to entice us to push something good beyond the boundary of the will of God until it becomes sin. He treats us like the proverbial frog in the pot of water: gradually turning up the heat of temptation, hoping we don't notice that we are approaching the boundary of God's will and jump out before something good becomes sin.

 

Everything is good and lawful for us because we are free from sin and no longer under the condemnation of the law. But the following statements reveal how we can wrongly take good things beyond the boundary of God's will:

 

physical rest becomes laziness ability to profit becomes avarice and greed enjoyment of life becomes intemperance physical pleasure becomes sensuality interest in the possessions of others becomes covetousness enjoyment of food becomes gluttony self-care becomes selfishness self-respect becomes conceit communication becomes gossip cautiousness becomes unbelief anger becomes rage and bad temper lovingkindness becomes overprotection judgment becomes criticism same-sex friendship becomes homosexuality sexual freedom becomes immorality conscientiousness becomes perfectionism generosity becomes wastefulness self-protection becomes dishonesty carefulness becomes fear.

 

Prayer: Lord, I seek Your balance in my life today to do what is profitable without being mastered by anything, even good things.