Indulgence

In some instances, I am in full support of indulging in the finer things in life: European chocolate, aromatherapy bath scrubs, hot showers, and cashmere. But then, as I think about it, a lot of times indulgence is at the very root of a lot of my spiritual struggles.

In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul writes: "Everything is permissible--but not everything is beneficial" (10:23)

As I was reading this the other night my initial reaction was "Gah. There is so much truth to this statement, so much conviction."

Then I thought to myself, "What if I checked all of my of my actions against the question: 'is this beneficial'?" I think it would drastically alter the way I live my life.

Obviously, Paul is addressing the issue of free will and the fact that we were created by a God who has given us the freedom to make our own decisions, we are not just characters in some cosmic puppet show, thus, we have the capability to do "everything." And naturally some decisions that we make are good and some are not. But the second part of the verse addresses the real issue of free will, that because we are free to make our own decisions we should not act selfishly or in vain, but should seek to act in a way that benefits those around us. The issue of benefit is the heart behind our actions.

How many times a day do I allow myself to indulge in something that is not at all beneficial to myself, the Lord, or anybody else? The truth is, more often that I can count. Sometimes it comes in the form of stuffing my face with junk, laziness, gossip, sleep, TV, music, putting off my time with the Lord, putting my expectations for the future ahead of the Lord's purpose for me in the present, or wallowing in self doubt and insecurity.

The truth is, that far too often I both knowingly and unknowingly allow myself to indulge physically, emotionally and spiritually in things that have no benefit, and because of that I give the devil a foothold on my heart to create a perceived distance from the Lord and others.