Today I got into a discussion with someone that doesn't know my story. I quickly realized they were not a safe person and didn't feel the need to share my thoughts. Then the jabbing question came....
"you who have a problem with alcohol, what scripture do you have to support your position?"
I never said that it was wrong for a person to drink,but personally I choose to abstain. The only verses that came to mind were about drunkenness, and I didn't feel this was the time or place to share my testimony.
The question bothered me throughout the day. Why do I no longer drink alcohol? What scirptures support my opinions.
The short answer is I’ve seen too many people ruin their lives with alcohol, me being one. Is it only a consequence for my over indulgence or does it go deeper? I know that I don't want to be in place where I stumble or cause someone else to.
For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.(
1 Corinthians 8:10-13)
Or how about Romans 14:1-4. Whether you drink or not, we should “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.”
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. (1 Corinthians 10: 23-28)
I believe that I have the freedom to drink, but I no longer see a purpose in it. The real question isn't what can I do and get away with it, but what am I willing to give up to be a witness to others?
No comments:
Post a Comment