1 Corinthians 8: Looking Out for the Weak

In Paul’s discussion about foods sacrificed to idols, he mentions and important concept we often overlook in living out our faith among our brothers and sisters in Christ. Verse 8 reads:

“Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”

The context is that Paul is teaching that it doesn’t matter whether you food has been dedicated to an idol or whether you eat a certain type of food. Yet he says to not eat something if it will harm your brother or sister in Christ. The larger concept is that what we do is not only about us, but about those around us too.

If what I would do would hurt the faith of my friend, I should avoid the activity, even if there is nothing wrong with the action. This could involve a film I would watch, what I would drink, or where I would go, but the idea is to consider my impact on others, not only whether the action is okay for me.

This practice, if taken seriously by more believers, would certainly transform our communities in radical, beneficial way.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.