Day 335: I Cor 5:1 - 8:12

I love the book of I Corinthians because it deals with the surface level of the Christian life. It seems there are alot of Christians out there who seem to put tons of focus on the spiritual aspect of their lives but tend to believe that what they do in the physical doesn't really matter as long as they "love God." In fact, I've had plenty of "believers" explain to me that the great thing about living in this grace that God has given us is that we don't have to worry about our actions. They will sit and argue that it doesn't matter how we live our lives here on earth because as long as we're not doing anything really really bad like murdering or fornicating all of the time, God will just forgive us and welcome us into His arms. Of course, this is just one blog entry and not an entire book so I won't spend quite the necessary time to point out all of the dangers of thinking this way right now, but who knows, maybe I'll write a book about it some other time. The truth is, God does judge the heart, but that doesn't mean that our actions are in no way connected to our hearts. We are called to reach for a life of holiness and to do what we can to please God. If our hearts are focused on pleasing ourselves first and possibly making it to heaven second, we are not trying to please God, but if we will focus our hearts and lives on honoring our Father in Heaven and being an example to the rest of the world, we can know without a doubt that we are His good pleasure.

- Father, help me to keep my focus on pleasing You and following Your Word. I know it's not a matter of performing the right actions, but rather it's a matter of putting my heart in the right place to fulfill all that You have called me to. -