Choose What's best

Credit: Harrison House devotional..

Everything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power. - 1 Corinthians 6:12 AMP

From time to time it is a wonderful thing to confront ourselves and see where we are in God. Then we can make the changes we need to make so He can continue to take us to places in Him we have never been before and show us things we have never seen before. He can unlock mysteries, give us new strategies to fulfill our callings, and free us from old ways of thinking and doing that have kept us from enjoying our lives in Him.

When you begin to set priorities according to God’s Word, you will find you are doing a lot of fine-tuning. As 1 Corinthians 6:12 above says, we have tremendous freedom in Jesus, but we want to make the best choices instead of mediocre or bad choices. And we certainly don’t want to become a slave of anything or anyone—except Jesus.

As I have pressed into a higher dimension in God, there have been various things that I have had to lay aside. These things were not sinful or evil, but they were not adding to my spiritual life. I began to understand that there were certain things I was allowing in my life that caused fear to come. I knew how to cast off fear, but as I prioritized my life I realized I was wasting my time and energy getting rid of fear that I could have avoided in the first place.

For example, I used to sit up and watch movies about serial killers! Of course, this often caused me to have nightmares about somebody chasing me and trying to kill me. At that time I didn’t mind the nightmares, but one day I realized that I couldn’t go where God wanted me to go and continue having them. He wanted me to have sweet sleep and to be completely refreshed when I awoke. Therefore, I chose to lay aside what I was giving my eyes to, what I was giving my mind to, and what I was allowing to come into my heart that was causing fearful dreams. I wasn’t trying to be super-spiritual and religious; I just wanted to continue growing strong in God. He meant more to me than scary movies.

The Amplified Bible says that “everything is permissible.” Watching movies is not bad; however, we want to make sure that movies don’t have any rule over our lives. The verse also says, “I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power.” Although I did not feel like I was a slave to these scary movies, and I knew my authority in Jesus over any fear they caused, when the Holy Spirit impressed me to give them up I knew they were a weight I needed to lay aside.

Another example of something being lawful but not expedient is when we adopt the lifestyle and habits of other ministers and believers. We emulate them because we look up to them, but then we wonder why we don’t see the same results in our lives. Even though imitating other strong Christians can bring some good perspectives and habits into our lives, eventually we find out that in order to be where God wants us to be, we have to live our lives the way He wants us to live them. It isn’t that what other Believers are doing is bad; it is just that what they are doing is not what God wants us to be doing.

Other believers may be able to watch movies about serial killers. It could be God has called them into professions where the information in these movies would give them insight and wisdom. But they were not for me! If I modeled my life after those believers’ lives, my walk with the Lord would be hindered. Therefore, it is really important for us to follow the path God has set for us.

First Corinthians 6:12 gives us an important key to setting our priorities in a godly way. The apostle Paul is telling us that in the freedom we have in Jesus Christ, we also have His wisdom to choose what is best for our lives.

Setting Your Priorities Today

His mercies are new every morning!

Take a moment and ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life that might be lawful and permissible but not expedient and profitable. Then ask Him how to eliminate it from your life. In most cases He will want to replace it with something else that will prove helpful and fruitful. Remember, Jesus gave you the Holy Spirit to guide you, teach you, and comfort you. With His help you are able to choose what’s best!