Today’s devotion is difficult to write because it speaks very loudly to the current temperature in our world at this present time. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about the immorality happening. Not only was sexual immorality among the people of Corinth, but the people were proud of it. It was flaunted. It was put out there. Something that was sinful was given extra attention. Paul wrote this: “Boasting over your tolerance of sin is inappropriate. Don’t you understand that even a small compromise with sin permeates the entire fellowship, just as a little leaven permeates a batch of dough?So remove every trace of your ‘leaven’ of compromise with sin so that you might become new and pure again. For indeed, you are clean because Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:6-7 TPT).
Paul is warning the church about tolerating sin and about boasting about said tolerance. He notes that even a small compromise on the truth will permeate through the people. So it is when we tolerate sin, and allow the lines to be blurred or crossed. We do this often in the name of tolerance. We decide that tolerance is what equals loving; intolerance equals unloving. It’s ironic because we can be so tolerant that those we care for are “loved to hell.” This small compromise of sin allows the line to be pushed even further. We find that we trade the Truth for a lie. We sacrifice holiness. We sacrifice God’s plan for us. This can be done individually in our own personal lives, and this can be done corporately as a church. Let a bit of sin be acceptable and then where does one draw a line?
Today, let us be reminded that there’s going to continue be a big battle over the line. Truth and lies. Good and evil. There’s a line. There’s a battle. And we each have a decision to make. Will we be on God’s side? It’s not an us versus them scenario my friends. It it isn’t God versus the Devil. He’s already won! Jesus has overcome. We have the victory. The battle is this: Do we rest in God’s victory as His children and allow His Spirit to guide us and sanctify us? Or do we, for the sake of the world’s acceptance, move the line He’s already drawn to exchange the Truth for a lie? Further more, do we then decide we won’t broach certain sins or sin in general because we do not want to be seen as judgmental or intolerant or mean? Think on this carefully. The truth does not change because you’ve decided it to be different. Only you have moved. God’s defeated the sin you may choose to wallow in. Let us instead be a people who draw near to Him and allow Him to continue to make us new. We will sin. We will fall short. But I would much rather be covered in Jesus than accept the mockery the world deems right.
Heavenly Father, as we look around today, it is clear that what it true and right and pure is being turned aside. Lord, we see that which is fact being traded for a lie. Help us to keep our eyes fixed on You and Your Truth. Lord, help us to be a voice of truth in this dark world. Lord, help us to do so in a loving-in-truth manner. Thank You for showing us that One can speak Truth in Love. May we follow that example. Thank You for the victory over sin and death. We rejoice in Your Name alone. In Jesus’ Name. Amen!
Tania Gutekunst 