Latest / The Daily Word / March 21 – Is It Helping or Hurting You?
Transcript
- Brandon Dirmann: Well, good morning and welcome to another episode of the Daily Word podcast. My name is Brandon and I am one of the pastors here at our church. And like always, I to take just a second and thank you so much for taking time to listen to this podcast to make it a part of your daily routine. It's really our heart and our prayer that this would become a part of your daily routine, your daily rhythm to take time every day and listen to 10 minutes. so depending on you the podcast but you ten around ten minutes and just take time to allow the Word of God to encourage you and also to be reminded that God has something he wants to speak to you in the secret place as you spend time digging deep in the Word of God allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Today is March the 21st and our New Testament reading in our Life Journal reading plan which we use as a church and are using for this podcast. Our New Testament reading is 1st Corinthians chapter 6. And I want to share with you this scripture, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 12, the scripture that I'm journaling on today. And it simply says this, all things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Let me read that one more time. It's the scripture for today that I want to encourage you with. Paul writes, all things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." And what I see in this scripture and what I want to encourage you with is this reality that just because you can do it doesn't mean that you should do it. You know what's so interesting is that as people put their faith in Jesus or even think about relationship with Jesus and the lifestyle that should follow that, it's not legalistic, but remember the Bible does say that faith without works is dead. And so relationship with Jesus is not just believing in his reality or his existence. The Bible says even the demons believe in that. heard one pastor say, we're not trying to have demon level faith. I love that quote. So relationship with God or Jesus, it's not just believing that he exists, but it is surrendering to him as the Lord of our life, the one who is leading and guiding and that we are submitted and surrendered to. Why does Jesus want to lead us? Why does he give us commandments and instructions? because he wants to give us life. The Bible says that sin, anything that would fall short of God's standard, that it only leads to death and destruction. And so what Jesus desires to do is to give us life and life more abundantly. And following Jesus requires that we actually follow him. But oftentimes, when we think about following Jesus, we think about things in right or wrong. Well, is it sin or not sin? Well, is it good or is it bad? Is it ⁓ okay or is it not okay? And I would offer to you this morning that that's probably like preschool, kindergarten, elementary level faith that you're just processing and thinking about life in terms of good or bad. Well, is it good or is it bad? Is it right or is it wrong? And that's like 101. But Paul writes here, again, 1 Corinthians 6, 12, all things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. Interesting that Paul is processing at what, let me, just termed today as a mature level of thinking. Where he's saying, I'm not making decisions based on right or wrong. No, that's like elementary. I'm not basing decisions on sin or not sin. No, that's kindergarten 101. I'm living life and basing my decisions on what is helpful, not helpful. What is beneficial, what is not beneficial. One scripture I can't think of, chapter and verse, off the top of my head. But Paul essentially says the same thing. goes, listen, all things are lawful, but not all things edify. Not all things build me up. Not all things are strengthening and helping me to follow Jesus and become and do everything he's called me to do. Not all things build up, strengthen and edify. Sure, all things are lawful, but not everything's helping me. And what I see in this today and what I want to encourage you with is just that thought that that we should be processing and thinking about life and relationship with God, not based on right or wrong, but based on helpful, non-helpful, beneficial, not beneficial, edifying and strengthening and building me up or not edifying, strengthening and building me up? What are ⁓ examples? These are totally made up examples just to give you a point of reference, but it's things like the shows you're watching on Netflix. Well, is it sin or is it not sin? ⁓ Maybe a silly question. Here's a better question. Is it beneficial or non-beneficial to me becoming more of who God wants me to be and fulfilling his plan for my life? Or is it not? Well, you know, is it sin to play golf seven times a week or is it not? Well, that's not really, you're not gonna find it in the Bible. Maybe a better question is, is it helpful? Hey, is that, and let's just go away from golf. Let's go any hobby, recreation. ⁓ Is it helping you to become more of who God's called you to be and fulfill his plan for your life or is it not? Is it helping you or is it hurting you? Well, know, Pastor Brandon, it's not sin for my kids to play 17 sports. That's true, that's true. You're not gonna find in the Bible a great sin. But maybe a better question is yeah, but is it helping them? Is it benefiting them? Is it edifying them? Is it enabling and allowing them? to grow into spiritual maturity appropriate to age and stage? Or is it only hindering them from growing and developing and having a heart after God? We gotta start thinking about things, not sin and non-sin, but beneficial, non-beneficial, helpful, not helpful. Is this helping me or is it hurting me? Is this leading me to more of Jesus or is this distracting me from Jesus? Is this? Building up my faith or is it just weakening my faith? Is it making me more focused on the purpose and plan of God for my life or is it a distraction to me? What if you live life like Paul? What if you and I what if we started here's the application? What if we started saying God helped me to process and think about and make every decision I make not based on right or wrong but based on lawful? Not thinking about lawful or sinful. I'm thinking about beneficial. Does this benefit me? Does this help me? Does this edify? Does this strengthen me? And here's the last thing he says. He says, I'm not gonna be brought under the power of anything. So here's another just thought that I'll give you an application. Or is there anything in your life right now that you're under the power of it? In other words, it's a bondage. me put it this way, maybe a little bit lighter language. Because we don't often think about things that are bondage like this, but ⁓ would you have a problem letting it go? Hey, if you felt like God say tomorrow, pull your kids out of all the travel sports. It's not helping. Would you be able to do that? Or is there something in your life or your family that it's a bond? No, it's holding us. If God said tomorrow, hey, no more golf. Sell the golf clubs, put them away, no more. Would you be like, yes sir? Or is it a, I have to. If God said, hey, I need you to get a dumb phone, tomorrow. Would you be willing to get rid of the, like what are the things in your life right now that's like, I'm not willing to let go of this. Here's a great indicator. That's a bondage that's holding you. That has a grip on you. And Paul goes, listen, nothing's gonna have a grip on me. I'm gonna live open-handed with everything. And also I'm doing things that are helpful, beneficial, edifying, and that's how I'm making decisions. So my encouragement for you today is let's have mature decision-making. And let's assess things in our life with accuracy. I wanna live a life, I wanna live a life that's fully surrendered, submitted to Jesus, following after Him, doing everything He's called me to do, focused on the things of God, and I'm making decisions based on that. Is it helping me in that direction or is it hurting me? Is it building me up or is it tearing me down? Am I in bondage to it or am I open-handed with it? So. Lord Jesus, I'm praying for myself, but every single person listening, would you help us to begin to think about our life like this? Holy Spirit, as we desire to be submitted to you and yielded to you and to be led by you, I'm praying for every person listening today, including myself, that God, you would lead and guide us into this kind of decision-making and thinking and processing for our own life, for the life of our family, for the way we process just the things around us. for how we encourage people, how we parent our kids, would everything be through this lens of it's not about beneficial, non-beneficial, or rather it's not about sinful, non-sinful, it's about beneficial, non-beneficial. Lord, help us to think that way, process that way. Would nothing have a grip or a hold on us? We're asking you this in Jesus' name and asking that you would do this in us and by faith we're just thanking you that you'll help us to begin to move this direction. We thank you for it today in Jesus' name. Amen. Hey, thank you once again for listening today, for tuning into another episode of the Daily Word Podcast. 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