Sometimes we want to leap out there.
I can do it! Here’s my opinion! I’m right! I’m the expert! Just ask me!
Yet caution is often the word of the day. We need to think before we act, to plan before we perform, to study before we speak.
We need to be careful when we deal with the realities of the cross and the message Christ offers to the world.
2 Peter 1:20-21 reminds us that only God can speak the truth about his person and his desires:
“Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
2 Peter 2:19 cautions us to find our strength in the cross, not in those who cater to our worldly desires:
“They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says we show disrespect to God when we disrespect our bodies:
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Luke 16:13 insists we make a choice, to chase after God or to pursue earthly pleasures:
“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
1 John 3:1 encourages us to be patient. We won’t be understood by unbelievers, no matter how hard we try.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
1 John 1:9 helps us keep our eyes on Christ and the cross:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 2:1 offers us forgiveness when our humanity gets in the way of our Christian walk:
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
The message of the cross is summed up in this: forgiveness, salvation, and a changed life. It’s always Christ above us in every situation.
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