The Importance Thing

A Large Assembly of Birds on Lake Pend Oreille

In the New Testament era, Paul lovingly planted a church in Corinth, consisting of his dear brothers and sisters in Christ. However, later Paul brokenheartedly discovered many of the people in this assembly were no longer controlling themselves. They were engaged in sexual immorality. When the Apostle Paul found out, he wrote the church a letter telling them it is better to marry, (even during a time of severe persecution of Christians) than to burn with lust.

"But if they can't control themselves,

they should go ahead and marry.

It's better to marry than to burn with lust."
1 Corinthians 7:9 (NLT)

Ironically, the people were more concerned about a ritual of whether or not a man should be circumcised. They were not concerned about keeping God's moral commandments, especially regarding sexual purity. But the Bible says the important thing is to keep His commandments. Sadly, this truth is something we do not stress in our churches today. As a result, many people are giving into their lustful desires, not fully realizing the dire consequences of their actions.

"For it makes no difference

whether or not a man has been circumcised.

The important thing is to keep God's commandments."

1 Corinthians 7:19 (NLT)