1 Corinthians 8:13
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.
Paul shows how important the law of love is to him. He would rather give up his freedom than to cause another person to fall into sin. We are programed from our youngest days to fight for our freedom, not to give them! We have rights and no one is going to take those away from us. So much of this is about ME. Our motive is not love but self.
What does it take to live by this principle? The only way we can do this with victory is to crucify the old selfish self so that we are not controlled by it any longer. If we live in Christ and Christ in us, His law will become our guiding light. If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, love will become our nature. We will become like the One we serve.
We cannot do this well on our own. It requires that we submit to God. Our prayer can be to ask God to develop within us a sensitivity to those around us. Give us a tender heart that loves others more than our own freedom and rights. This chapter of 1 Corinthians is exceedingly difficult to live out. Our world would be a much different place if all Christians came to this level of maturity. This is our goal. We should expect the same kind of response Jesus did–suffering. To give up our freedom for the sake of another may lead to difficult times, but love always wins. It will remain forever.
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