Daily Journal: 10 September

Children of the Light

and Day

What does being a child of the light and day mean?

It means to stand in faith and identify with whatever celebrates life in God. To tolerate things outside of those bounds, is to tolerate what doesn’t belong. With faith and love, we are to guard ourselves against things that strip that identity away.

1 Thessalonians 5:5-8 (NIV)

For you are all children of the light and of the day, and do not belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Watch for his return and stay sober. Night is the time for sleep and the time when people get drunk. But let us who live in the light keep sober, protected by the armour of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the happy hope of salvation.

How do we live in the world with integrity?

Tolerate  (DEFINITION BY OXFORD LANGUAGES)

allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that one dislikes or disagrees with) without interference.

As a child of the light and of the day, to tolerate the things of darkness and of the night would be to allow the practice of something that I dislike or disagree with, without interference.

There may be degrees of what I should tolerate in order to be respectful and harmonious, and what I should not, according to my conscience and my convictions of faith. To tolerate things that are wrong for me according to my conscience, is sin.

Romans 14:23 (NLT)

But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.

How do we deal with people who judge us for our convictions, or tell us to be more tolerant?

Ephesians 4:2 (NIV)

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Deuteronomy 13:6-8 (NLV)

“Your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your friend who is as your own soul, might tempt you in secret. They might say, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’ (whom you and your fathers have not known. They might be gods of the nations who are around you, near you, or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other). Do not agree with him or listen to him. 

Should I engage in what is being promoted around me if my faith and convictions disagree with it? I need to know where I draw a line in the sand, to help my life of faith in God and help those around me in their life of faith in God. No matter the position of others.

Acts 24:16 (NIV)

So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

1 Timothy 1:4-7 (NLT)

Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God. The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.

The purpose is to keep my conscience clear and my faith in tact, not tolerating what works against that, but also, trying to act out of a heart filled with love.  I can do my best to do both, even if others’ wish to judge me for my position.

1 Peter 3:16 (NIV)

keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.