Chaplains Corner – Azusa StreetRiders International

Delayed Gratification:

1 Corinthians 6: 1-3

Our appetites can overtake and enslave us. Perfectly good activities can get us into trouble when we fail to practice them in moderation, Or there may be times when we don’t feed our appetites in balanced ways. Then we become so starved that we fall to the temptation of our addiction at the first opportunity.

This happened to Esau. One day he came home hungry he promised his birthright to his younger brother in exchange for a bowl of porridge. We are warned:”Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears” (Hebrews 12:16-17). The apostle Paul wrote: “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Corinthians 6:12).

We need to satisfy our appetites in appropriate ways so we don’t become starved and thus more susceptible to temptation. There may be some good things that have such control over us that it’s best to avoid them altogether. If we allow the demands of our appetites to become overpowering, we risk losing things (or people) that we might never get back.

6: 1-6: Taking someone to court, as painful as it may be, is often the easy way out of a conflict. Instead of working out problems out, we hand them over to an impartial judge. Dealing with conflict in such an indirect way usually leads to separation rather than reconciliation. Paul warned the Corinthian believers not to go to unbelieving judges to settle their disputes. If God’s power is at work within us, we can use the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit to settle our conflicts. We need to keep this in mind as we seek to make amends with those we have harmed.