indulging personal preferences...

When we indulge our opinions...
our personal preferences...
we feed our flesh...

Whether in food choices...
fashion...
interior design...
pleasing self... our natural bents...
feeds the flesh...

When we allow personal preferences... in the church...
to affect a community of Believers...
whether it's worship style... or personality of the preacher...
it's destructive... and divisive...

For to set the mind on the flesh is death,

but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Romans 8:6 ESV

To walk by the Spirit... dismisses the voice that says style matters...
exterior matters...

Walking by the Spirit... pays attention to the unseen...
the invisible... asking Him...
What is the heart behind the worship...?
Where am I focused...?
Where's the truth in the words spoken...?

Heart is what matters... not personal preference...

When we indulge personal preference...
feeding the flesh...
we quench the Spirit...
and miss grace altogether...

When personal preference moves us to leave a community...
we've judged those who serve Christ in that community...

Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?

It is before his own master that he stands or falls.

And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Romans 14:4 ESV

Focusing on the Spirit in worship...

focuses on the unseen...

asking Him to reveal Himself...

through the offering of those serving Him...

Worship is all about the heart...

hearts seeking to please Him...

glorify Him...

not self...

Indulging personal preference...

allowing it to lord over us...

feeds the flesh...

misses grace...

divides... His... body...

Is there room for personal preference...? when it comes to faith...?

For the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God,

for it does not submit to God's law; indeed it cannot.

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 8:7-8 ESV

And without faith it is impossible to please him.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

Flesh and faith...

they just don't mix...

Father forgive me... for every instance I've indulged...

personal preference... to the harm of another... 

teach me to walk by faith... not by sight... 

not by flesh... but by the Spirit... 

Help me to see what really matters... You...

opinion... vs... Truth...

Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you may be justified in your words

and blameless in your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being

and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Psalm 51:4-6 ESV

I've heard too much about opinions lately... when the topics discussed... should be centered on seeking Truth...

opinion... noun... 1 a: a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter b: approval, esteem 2 a: belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge b: a generally held view...

 ---Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th Ed.)

Why can't people just keep their opinions to themselves...

Can't we agree to disagree...? understand we all see things differently...?

When it comes to the subject of sin... it's not about opinion... we do not get to make those judgments... no matter how we view... appraise... or feel about... issues regarding sin...

God alone... judges rightly... 

He alone... defines sin...

He alone... is Truth...

Jesus answered, "I am the way,

and the truth, and the life... "

John 14:6

Behold... I was brought forth in iniquity... what possible judgment could I make... could you make... about sin that would be right...?

Opinions come from strong beliefs... impressions... judgments... formed in the mind... and often times based on deceptions... the emotional deceit of the heart... it wants what it wants... 

The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

Only when we are ready to put aside emotions... and seek His wisdom... His way... despite how we feel about it... will we come to Truth...

truth... noun... 1 a archaic: fidelity, constancy b: sincerity in action, character, and utterance 2 a (1): the state of being the case: fact (2): the body of real things, events, and facts: actuality (3) often capitalized: a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality b: a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true... c: the body of true statements and propositions 3 a: the property (as of a statement) of being in accord with fact or reality...

 ---Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th Ed.) 

Every Believer possesses access to Truth through the Holy Spirit...

"... When the Spirit of truth comes, 

he will guide you into all the truth..."

John 16:13

Understanding our capacity to be deceived by self... and others... is the first step in moving toward Truth...

Understanding our broken nature... the first step toward revelation...

Behold... Lord... You delight in truth in the inward being... 

...teach me wisdom... in the secret heart...

...reveal where I have replaced Truth... with mere opinion...

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalm 51:10 ESV