Posts Tagged ‘Dr. Gayle Woods’
Romans 14:13-16 (15)
David and Jonathan both played soccer. Ben was four-years-old and this season he would be able to play as well. I signed him up with a team in the pee wee league and took him to the first practice. As a proud father I stood to the side and listen as the coach gave the little soccer players his list of rules for the team. Toward the end of the presentation I heard him say, “And I want you all to wear shorts when you play for me.” I saw Ben’s crestfallen look and knew I had to talk to the coach. After the practice I went to the coach and told him that I did not allow my boys to wear shorts. If shorts were required then I would have to withdraw him from the team. The coach was very gracious and made a concession for our family allowing Ben to wear long pants when he played.
Unfortunately not all Christians are as gracious as this soccer coach. When Christ has freed us from the rules and regulations that bind some we must be careful not to flaunt our liberty in Christ. We must guard their conscience by restricting our own freedom. We should never cause another to feel the condemnation of a guilty conscience because of our demand to exercise our Christian liberty. This is act of disregard outside the scope of divine love.
Dr. Gayle Woods
1 Cor 10:19-23 (22)
It seemed like I was constantly getting into fights. As a ten or eleven-year-old boy I was not aggressive, abrasive or argumentative. I thought I was a nice guy. Older students at my elementary school, however, continued to pick on me. It didn’t help that I had not lost a fight. It seemed to be a challenge to them.
This time was different. A boy I knew and his older sister were on their way home from school. Without any provocation he insulted me and challenge me to fight. After some unpleasant conversation his older sister stepped forward and said, “If you hurt my little brother I will give you a licken’.” My parents taught me to never touch a girl and to act respectfully toward women. Besides that the girl was about a foot taller and quite a lot heavier than I was. It was time to retreat.
There are times when we may feel that we are right and want to push our Christian liberty in the presence of a brother who is restricted by rules and regulations. Paul indicated that this may “provoke the Lord to jealousy” so that He will take up the defense of our brother against us. That is a situation we want to avoid. In our desire to please God at all times and in all ways we will do our best to not damage the conscience of our brother by our freedom in Christ.
Dr. Gayle Woods
