08/30/2026
Just because you CAN do something does not mean you SHOULD do it.
Christian maturity is not measured by how many liberties you can defend, but by how much of yourself you are willing to surrender for the glory of God and the good of others.
Check your pride.
One of the most dangerous deceptions in modern Christianity is the idea that if Scripture does not explicitly forbid something, then our freedom automatically justifies it. That’s spiritually shallow reasoning. The question of discipleship is not merely, Is this permissible? The deeper question is, Is it profitable? Is it constructive? Is it holy? Does it glorify God? Does it strengthen my witness? Could it weaken somebody else? And most importantly, is this what God actually wants from me?
Paul did not tell believers to present God with whatever was convenient. He pleaded with them to become living sacrifices.
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind He will accept. When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask? Do not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is.”
That’s Romans 12 Christianity. Transformation does not ask how close you can live to the world without technically crossing a line. Transformation changes the way you THINK about the line altogether.
Then James confronts us with another uncomfortable truth.
“To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
In other words, sin is not limited to doing what is obviously wrong. Sometimes sin is knowing the higher road and arrogantly choosing the lower one because you insist that you have the right.
Paul drives the point even deeper.
“It is better not to eat meat or drink w**e or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You may believe there is nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God.”
Biblical Christianity actually teaches that there may be things you have the liberty to do that love should restrain you from doing.
That destroys the childish argument of, nobody is going to tell me what I can and cannot do.
So, before you say, Nobody can tell me what to do, remember this:
Maybe nobody has to. Maybe the Holy Ghost should. Maybe love should.
Maybe wisdom should. Maybe your testimony should. Maybe the Cross should.
Maybe the possibility of becoming a stumbling block to somebody weaker than you should.
Your freedom may say you CAN. Your pride may say you WILL.
Paul said, “I have the right to do anything, but not everything is beneficial. I have the right to do anything, but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.”
That’s the difference between RIGHTS and RESPONSIBILITY.
Immaturity asks, What can I get away with? Maturity asks, What will glorify God?
Pride screams, Nobody can tell me what to do. Love asks, How will what I do affect somebody else?
Carnality searches for loopholes. Consecration searches for God's pleasure.
And here’s where the argument ends.
Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, DO IT ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Gentiles, or the church of God.
So, before you defend your RIGHTS, examine your HEART.
Before you announce your LIBERTY, examine your INFLUENCE.
Before you say, There’s nothing wrong with it, ask whether there is anything RIGHT about it.
You can win the argument over whether something is technically permissible and still lose something far more valuable: your influence, your testimony, your spiritual sensitivity, your brother, your sister, or your ability to clearly represent Jesus Christ.
Christian liberty was never intended to become religious narcissism or
anointed self-centeredness.
The Cross didn’t call us to see how much of ourselves we could keep. The Cross called us to DIE TO SELF.
Just because you CAN doesn’t mean you SHOULD.
Sometimes the greatest demonstration of spiritual freedom is having the liberty to do something and enough consecration, wisdom, humility, and love to say, I WILL NOT.
CHECK YOUR PRIDE.
Your freedom may tell you that you CAN.
Your flesh may tell you that you DESERVE TO.
The world may tell you that nobody has the right to question you.
But the mature born again Christian still asks the one final question that settles everything:
WILL THIS GLORIFY GOD?
~Pastor James R. East~
