Doubtful Is Dirty

Romans 14:23

And he that doubts is condemned if he eats, because he eats not in faith; for whatever is not of faith is sin.

We have all been there before. We are confronted with a decision and we want to do the right thing. The problem is, we are not really sure what the right thing is. We have looked in the Bible and can’t seem to find this particular subject covered. We decide to ask those whom we trust, whom we know have spiritual insight along with the same values that we do. Yes, you guessed it; the answers are split right down the middle. You still do not have the answer and you still do not know what to do.

Where do you go from here? For sure, there are certain situations and circumstances that you, as a born again Christian, will be confronted with that are not directly covered in the Scriptures. There will be times when you do not hear clearly, for one reason or another, the voice of the Spirit saying to you what you should do.

During my years serving the Lord, I have come up with some guide lines that I use when I find myself in situations like this. I ask myself these questions and the answers usually give me my answer.

First, we have dealt the obvious, does the Bible condemn it? If the Bible condemns something, we cannot condone it. The second is, Can I ask God’s blessing on this? If I do not feel free to ask God’s blessing on something, then I should abstain from it. Thirdly, would it be good if everyone was doing it? Fourth, Would I want to be doing this when Jesus returns? And finally, the one that seems to be the real acid test. Will it dull the keen edge of my testimony? Let’s face it, there are things that may not be inherently wrong, but that would take away from the impact your testimony.

Paul said it like this, “All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient.” If it is your goal to bring glory to the Lord, there are some things that others may do that you simply cannot.