Daily Presenceਨਮੂਨਾ

Paul used a lot of different examples for the believers when it came to seeing how our actions impacted others. He talked about it being ok to eat food from foreign temples etc. because as believers we were giving our thanks to the One true God. But he also cautioned us that sometimes we might be ok with what we were doing but that someone not as strong in the faith could be hurt. In other words, it might not be about what I do or don’t do and how it impacts me, but it could be about how it impacts someone else. Paul goes so far as to say that while eating meat from a temple wasn’t bad if someone was giving thanks to God properly, he would never eat meat again if it meant causing problems for someone else. I think about this as a parent often. There are choices I make that I really don’t enjoy but I choose them because I know it’s best for my kids. Or I choose to eat at a place they like that I don’t care for. The choices are small and insignificant in many ways, but the idea is that when we love someone, we should look at what benefits them. My parents never missed a game when I was growing up and playing sports. If I was playing a game, they would rearrange schedules to make sure they were there. Whether I was the starter or just someone lucky to get in the game, they were there. Another friend of mine told me that her parents never came to any of her games because neither of them liked the sports she played. I never want to oversimplify any relationship but one of the challenges she had was that she felt like parents never cared about that aspect of her life. Now, I could argue that the parents cared about this child but said they didn’t care about volleyball. However, the bigger issue isn’t caring about the sport, it’s caring about the person who is there. I don’t get into karate, but I have two sons trying it, so I go to karate. Paul is telling us to do that for people—it’s not about us, it’s about how it impacts those we are supposed to care about.