Another Favorite

Since I mentioned how the Doxology is one of my favorites, I thought I would follow the trend and mention some of my other favorites this week.  (Also, I am running low on riveting, awe-inspiring, laugh-inducing anecdotes that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat and asking for more. - Oh, wait a second - I never had those! lol!  Well, anyway...)

Here is a favorite verse of mine.  I have many favorite verses for many reasons, but this verse I come back to when I feel like my heart is being pulled in the wrong directions.  There are some gray areas that don't have definitive prohibitions in the Bible, but what is the wise choice for me? 


"Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive." 1 Corinthians 10:23

Another version replaces the "but not everything is constructive" with "but I will not be mastered by anything."

I have hung this verse on my fridge or in other places where I feel I need the reminder.  It is one that I know by heart and that has changed my heart many times when I have wanted my own way.

This verse is followed by an even harder verse to practice sometimes.

Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. 1 Corinthians 10:24 


I am okay with being good to others in situations when it is clear that I should be.  Sure, I will be kind and talk to the homeless person when I am serving them in the mission, but do I treat them with the same love and care when I see them out on the streets?  Oh, and there are so many situations like this for me.  Times when I do the right thing when it is expected of a "good person" or a Christian, but what about when it is outside of the bounds of just what is needed to be labeled "good" by our culture.  Am I willing to to go past cultural expectations to do what God calls me to do? 

This reminds me of a situation this summer.  I took my kids to the pool.  They were playing in the shallow end when a couple entered the pool.  They were being pretty loud and obnoxious and the man had few teeth and they were in their clothes, instead of bathing suits.  I really wanted just to move as far away from them as possible.  But my son, who has little to no social inhibitions, started talking to them - a lot.  When he learned the female couldn't swim, he took it upon himself to teach her.  They were more than willing to have the social interaction and were being pretty boisterous about the entire exchange.  There were not many people in the pool and I felt the eyes of all those who were on us.  I began to feel very embarrassed and was wondering what people must think of us and of me as a mother - letting my kids interact with people who clearly had no social etiquette.  I even tried to tell Elias to leave them alone and let them swim more than once.  Then all of a sudden, my heart became terribly convicted.  I cared more about what the other people in the pool thought than by letting my son be kind to someone.  It wasn't like he was in danger.   I was right there with them and everyone's eyes were on us anyway, so it wasn't like they could get away with anything without someone seeing.  So, I decided that I would let the interaction continue and that I would not just allow it, but I would interact too.  It was just another lesson that I have learned from my kids.

Hmmm, didn't plan on sharing that story.  I was just going to give you my favorite verse and call it a day.  But, if you know me, I am very rarely a woman of few words!