Building Up the Body

The one desire that I have, above all others, is to give my deepest love and full obedience to God. God is love, God is truth, God is life. That is what I believe. I have had to examine and reexamine what I genuinely believe over my life, especially whether or not I actually live up to what I say that I believe about loving and obeying God.

I have been put to the test in that regard in various ways, some random, and others planned. And I've recounted how I responded to those situations in my life and noted if I did so as someone who shows a deep love of God and who desires to obey God's leading in my life above all else. I define "tests" as those situations and decisions that happen to me or that I choose that have brought to light my most genuine self. I could not hide who I was when I faced those situations, I could only reveal the real me.

The ways that I responded to the tests in my life most often came from the perspective of mind and spirit that I possessed at the time they took place. Some of the time I was unsure of how to act and became timid and reserved, other times I was self-assured and operated out of the mindset that did not give much forethought before I acted - I was often impulsive.

The best of me acted from a place where God was in control, and I felt that I acted with grace and respect while recognizing what God wanted me to think, do, and say, and I was sure that I was acting in ways that were loving and obedient.

There were times, though, that I found people grossly misinterpreted my actions and my words, even though I was acting out of what I thought was obedience to God's love. Nevertheless, I did not have a deep enough understanding of the full effect that my actions and words had on the people around me. Is it possible to desire to follow God's lead and act in ways that are not against God's law or the life example of Christ but still cause some people to so misjudge your actions and words that they might be led to say and do things that are the opposite of your thoughts and intentions?

Compare the Bible reading from 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 with the concept that I just posed to you; the concept of acting and speaking according to the teachings of Jesus and within the laws of God, but in certain situations, even those well-meaning words and actions becoming a barrier or an instance that causes somebody to turn away from the path they were traveling on their faith journey. Let us pray for God to open our minds and spirits to this insight and ask God to lead us to find ways to spot it in our daily lives. Amen!