1 Corinthians 10:23-33 Eat and Drink to the Glory of God
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: March 4, 2020 1 Corinthians 10:23-33
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
(Understanding the Text) Now Paul summarizes his arguments. He tells the people that even though it is not breaking God’s law to do a certain action, it still might not be right to do that action. They need to ask themselves if their actions build up others and if their actions are helpful to furthering the kingdom of God.
He then gives specific advice about the issue of eating meat offered to idols. Meat that is sold publicly with no label as to where it came from should be taken at face value and bought without any problems to the conscience. If you eat at the house of a pagan, don’t ask where the meat came from, just eat it. However, if someone makes a point of saying that the meat has been offered to an idol, then you shouldn’t eat it for their sake. It is not a problem to eat it for your own relationship with God, but if they have informed you of its origins, then they may think that you are taking part in that worship by eating it. At that point, you should refuse to eat it. Paul’s point is that eating the meat does not hurt a person because he knows that offering it to an idol has not affected the meat; however, eating the meat might hurt an unbeliever because he does not have the same understanding of life and might misinterpret the action. Paul’s principle is that we need to think of how our actions affect others.
I have understood this part correctly in the past, but I don’t see how Paul’s argument here relates to his previous argument where he compared eating meat offered to idols with communion and the temple service, thus, saying that in eating it the believer was participating in the worship of demons. Paul seems to be contradicting himself, unless he is saying that participating only involves eating it in the temple, or maybe that knowingly eating it is participating while unknowingly eating it does not?
(Revelation of God / Application) Paul asks why we should limit our own freedom because someone else is narrow minded or simply wrong. Then he answers. It is not about limiting your freedom. It is about bringing glory to God. It is about God’s reputation, not our own, and not another person’s stupidity or inhibitions. Paul’s big point here is that we need to think of how our actions affect others and modify our actions for the best outcome for others with relationship to God. This does not mean living our lives by others’ rules. Living by their rules may not be what is best for them. Instead, it means placing others’ welfare before our own. It means thinking about whether our actions hurt someone else or not. It is a way of life that says that my own arrogant ideas are not more important than another person’s spiritual life. It means being aware of others’ needs and trying to help them rather than self-centeredly asserting my own wants and ideas. It also means glorifying God in our lives. We may be right while still being terribly wrong. It’s not enough to have the right conclusions if we have been arrogant and uncaring in our delivery of those conclusions.
(Application / Prayer) My application for myself is that I am selfish and arrogant. I need transformation so that I do not judge myself superior to others and so that I am generous instead of stingy. I pray to glorify You in all that I do and say.