What's Good for Me...

In the last week or so I've had a few people ask for my input or opinion on matters of moral choices or right vs. wrong according to our Christian faith. It got me to thinking, how exactly do we decide what's good for us or bad for someone else? In the end, we're not supposed to be judging anyone else's actions, but when a friend asks you for your advice on something, it kind of requires a bit of sound judgement.

This led me to thinking about something I learned way back when during my time as a wee one at Living Word and MCA. Ok, so maybe it was like middle school - I don't really remember. But it came back to me at such a perfect time!

what's good for me may not be good for someone else.

Think about that statement for a second. How often do you pass judgments on someone else's actions based on the expectations you have for yourself? Here's the thing - we all have different strengths and weaknesses, different gifts, different convictions. When God tells me to stay away from movies with hot scenes or looking at how thin another girl is, it is because He knows that I am weak in the areas of seeking affection from wrongful places and putting my self worth in how others see me. For someone else, though, these may be fairly trivial and not invoke much temptation in them. For a friend of mine, maybe online shopping is wrong because she is a compulsive buyer, or talking to her boyfriend leads them to irresponsible conversations.

I'm not saying that there are things certain people should be able to get away with that others can't. I'm saying that God has chosen the battles we are to fight and we are not to inflict those battles or regulations on anyone else. If a friend wants to see a movie that I know will cause wrongful thoughts or feelings in me, it is perfectly acceptable for me to excuse myself but that doesn't not give me any sort of permission to judge them for watching it. Even if there is something you strongly believe is wrong, you have to trust that your brothers and sisters in Christ are following the leading of the Holy Spirit in their own lives.

So the next time someone asks you for your opinion, remind yourself that it is how God has spoken to you about these things. You should definitely share your thoughts with them because, after all, they asked you. But if they disagree, allow it to become a constructive conversation about each others' strengths, weaknesses, convictions, temptations, etc. versus an opportunity for an argument.