Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

25 August 2025

Reading From I Corinthians 7:20-40

“If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does better.”

—I Corinthians 7:36-38

     In the essentials of our faith, those basic beliefs which form our common ground as followers of Jesus, we ought to be united.  The Lord wants us to be of one heart and one mind.  As we seek to understand the truth, we will arrive at the same conclusions regarding the fundamentals of life in our Lord Christ, even if that eventuality is not until His Second Coming and our sanctification is made complete.  If we are like Him, we will be like one another as well. 

     Something we need to give space to is that God has created us each with unique personalities, passions, talents, weaknesses, shortcomings, triumphs, experiences, backgrounds, ethnicities, families, cultures, the list goes on and on.  And yet the same Holy Spirit guides each of the Father’s sons and daughters in their specific contexts.  One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of us all.

     In this example given by the Apostle Paul, one man is engaged to a virgin and goes through with the marriage while another man decides that marriage is not for him.  Paul sees value in human marriage and he also sees value in the life of a single person who chooses to devote themselves totally to the work of the Lord.  It’s not a matter of one being right and the other wrong, it is a matter of following the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our individual lives. 

     Just because you’ve been led by God to do something within your life’s context, does not mean that is necessarily for everyone.  We must be careful not to turn disputable matters into across the board rules for all.  In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, love.  God gives us more liberty than some of us realize, but the goal of our journeys is the same: glorify Him.  Christ and His Word are our common ground and He has given us all the command to love Him, love others, love ourselves in healthy and holy ways.  And He has given us all the commission to make disciples everywhere.  Be gracious and merciful and patient with others with the same grace, mercy and patience our Father extends to us.

“Holy Spirit, You are welcome in our midst.  Make us more aware of Your Presence in our lives.  Bring about a sensitivity to Your guidance in every day life.  May we be obedient to the impressions You give us, the still small voice that at other times is more like a trumpet, the exuberant feeling of our hearts strangely warmed.  Thank You for who You are and what You do for us.  Help us to respect the differences of our brothers and sisters and genuinely appreciate them and their testimonies of how You’ve worked in their lives.  Bless us with more and more of Your knowledge and wisdom.  Thank You Jesus, amen.”

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

—Romans 14:1-4

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

—Colossians 3:13

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

—Ephesians 4:32

Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

—James 5:9