Be Constructive

Paul wrote in Corinthians 10:23-24, "Everything is permissible-but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible-but not everything is constructive.  Nobody can seek his own good, but the good of others."  Dating is permissible, but can also be destructive rather than beneficial or constructive.  Choose wisely who you spend your time with, who you invest your time with, who you give your heart to.

Often times, we forget our whole purpose of being on this earth.  We are to serve others, not ourselves.  The goal is to do the will of the Father and lead others to Christ by that example.   So many times, we are consumed with our own desires, our own ambitions, we forget what we are really supposed to be pursuing.  The Bible tells us to seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and all the other things will come.  (Matthew 6:33)

Denying flesh is difficult, no doubt.  We all want companionship, to find the love of our life.  This is evidenced by Proverbs 19:22 which by the way was written by the wisest man in Old Testament history.  He wrote, "What a person desires is unfailing love."  We can have that, it is permissible.  It is God-given, God-inspired.  We do, however, have to place our pursuits, our obsessions, our lusts on things above and allow Him to bring those into our lives that are beneficial and constructive.  I refer you to 1 Peter 4:1-2 which states, "So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.  You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. " 

I leave you with this thought a friend of mine posted as her Facebook status:

You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay?