Avoiding Life's Pitfalls

 1 Corinthians 10:33 – “Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.”

The Bible is very clear that we are to avoid certain things in our Christian life that the devil throws in our path as pitfalls.  These things can cause a lot of trouble if we allow them to exist in our lives.  The old children’s song is true: 

My mother told me something that everyone should know,

It’s all about the devil and I’ve learned to hate him so.

She said he causes trouble if you let him in the room –

He’ll never ever leave you if your heart is filled with gloom.

So let the sun shine in – face it with a grin –

Smilers never lose and frowners never win.

So let the sun shine in – face it with a grin –

Open up your heart and let the sun shine in.

There are three main pitfalls given in 1 Corinthians that we are to avoid.  There are many others throughout the Bible, but these three are found in 1 Corinthians 6 – 10. 

The first pitfall is becoming a slave to something besides Christ, found in 1 Corinthians 6:12, “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.”  In this chapter Paul speaks much about Christian liberty, but he says our liberty must be tempered by expediency, or that which is to our advantage.  And above all, we must not allow ourselves to be brought under the power of something else.  We are not to become enslaved to anything else besides the Lord Jesus Christ.

The second pitfall, being a stumblingblock to others, we find in 1 Corinthians 8:9, “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of your’s become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.”   Many Christians boldly proclaim their liberty to do as they please as long as they don’t transgress Scripture, but this verse tells us that if we cause a weaker brother to stumble, then we transgress Scripture.  We must constantly be aware of others.

This leads us to the third pitfall, not edifying other believers, found in 1 Corinthians 10:23, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.”  Once again speaking of Christian liberty, Paul instructs us to watch out for others.  We cannot let our Christian liberty become a detriment to the faith of younger or weaker Christians.  He says if eating meat offends a weaker brother then he will eat no meat.  We cannot wear our Christian liberty as a cloak of self-righteousness at the expense of others.

So we see here in 1 Corinthians, Paul tells us that our Christian liberty can become a negative in our lives if we allow it to bring these pitfalls in our way.  When we come upon potholes in the road, we go around them to keep from damaging the suspension in our vehicles.  So must we strive diligently to avoid these pitfalls in our Christian life.