The Corinthian Grid
8 verses
mdjhnson
Being a person of strength
Do you often wonder how God feels about drinking, smoking, music, relationships, chewing
tobacco, drugs, kissing, bars, thoughts, speech, and other areas of your life? Many times we are
tempted to classify these areas in a category sometimes referred to as “gray areas”. Gray is a
combination of two totally opposite and distinct colors: black and white. Since gray falls
somewhere between black and white in color, and is neither clearly black nor white, we have a
tendency to categorize areas of unclarity as gray. This causes us to be unsure of ourselves in
these areas and easily influenced by others. A person who does not have clarity from God’s
word in these areas is a person who is “tossed here and there by the waves, and carried about
by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14).
On the other hand, God is a God of Truth and clarity. He is definitely not a gray God and
does not want His children to fall to deceit through unclarity. That is why He gives us His
written word from which we can discover unchanging principles on which we can structure our
lives. We can find principles from God’s word that apply to every area of our lives. God gives us
these principles so that we can have confidence in our relationship with God and develop our
own personal convictions in all areas.
In order to help you develop your own personal convictions, I have drawn up a grid made up
of general principles from 1 Corinthians. They were dealing with the same questions then that
you deal with now. Pick out a specific area of your life and take it through the grid. Look up the
passage and then meditate on the principle. Remember to read the passage in context by
reading the verses before and after the passage. Finally, apply the principle to the specific area by
asking yourself the application question. Be honest with yourself and with God and allow Him to
form your heart in the same mold as Christ’s.
1 Corinthians 8:9,1