Don’t Please Yourself
Romans 15:1-3 We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbour for the good purpose of building up the neighbour. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” (NRSV)
In this age of entitlement you see so many people insisting on their rights that it’s easy for that to rub off on us too. But let’s not imagine that this is somehow a new phenomenon.
Back in the 1st Century AD when Christianity was being birthed out of Judaism, there was much controversy amongst these new Christians about what food they could eat, what meats were clean and unclean. Were you allowed to drink wine? On it went.
Of course most of those issues, for most Christians, are settled these days. But what the Apostle Paul was speaking into, as we head into this Scripture, is the fact that the insistence of some on exercising their new-found freedoms was undermining the faith of others.
Romans 15:1-3 We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbour for the good purpose of building up the neighbour. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” (NRSV)
His point? Even if you feel you’re entitled to something – I mean strongly believe that you’re right – being right, winning the argument, isn’t the end-game you should be going for. Instead, consider the impact of your rights – what you believe you’re entitled to – on your neighbour … even if your neighbour’s clearly wrong.
In other words, God’s message to us is this: don’t insist on your rights, if it’s going to damage someone else, just as Christ didn’t please Himself, but instead went to the Cross, to pay for your sin and mine.
Stop hurting others by pleasing yourself.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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