Beyond The Boundary

[rizen1]

Neil T anderson

BEYOND THE BOUNDARY

1 Corinthians 6:12
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.
All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything


Most of us won't often be tempted to commit obvious sins such as
armed robbery, murder or rape. Satan's tack is to entice us to push
something good beyond the boundary of the will of God until it becomes sin.
He treats us like the proverbial frog in the pot of water:
gradually turning up the heat of temptation, hoping we don't notice
that we are approaching the boundary of God's will and jump out before
something good becomes sin.

Everything is good and lawful for us because we are free from sin and
no longer under the condemnation of the law. But the following
statements reveal how we can wrongly take good things beyond
the boundary of God's will:

physical rest becomes laziness ability to profit becomes
avarice and greed enjoyment of life becomes intemperance
physical pleasure becomes sensuality interest in the possessions
of others becomes covetousness enjoyment of food becomes gluttony self-care becomes selfishness self-respect becomes conceit communication becomes gossip, cautiousness becomes
unbelief anger becomes rage and bad temper lovingkindness
becomes overprotection judgment becomes criticism same-sex friendship becomes homosexuality

sexual freedom becomes immorality conscientiousness becomes perfectionism generosity becomes wastefulness self-protection becomes dishonesty carefulness becomes fear

Prayer:

Lord, I seek Your balance in my life today to do what is profitable without being mastered by anything, even good things