COMPROMISE: A SERIES OF BAD CHOICES
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“Joyful are people of integrity,
who follow the instructions of the LORD. Joyful are those who obey His laws and
search for Him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and
they walk only in His paths. You have charged us to keep Your commandments
carefully.”—Psalm 119:1-4 (NLT)
Carefully camouflaged landmines are deadly weapons of war. If a soldier unknowingly steps on one, he or she will suffer serious injury or death. What is true in the physical realms of battle is also true for spiritual battles. Compromise is an invisible danger that has disastrous results that can cause major damage to unsuspecting to believers.
To compromise is to make concessions
or accommodations for someone who does not agree with a prevalent set of
standards or rules. The Bible makes it clear that God does not condone
compromising His standards. Not
compromising requires our unswerving submission to Him and to Him only,
regardless of the world’s concession to godlessness, “With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your
commandments!” ( Psalm 119:10).
King Solomon is a tragic example of
how compromise affected his
life. God equipped him with surpassing
wisdom to rule Israel and gave him the task of building His temple. Yet despite these blessings, his heart began
to drift from the Lord. He followed his
own desires and married many foreign women who led him into idolatry. His heart did not become divided
suddenly. It developed through a slow process of bad choices that violated God’s
commands.
There are those who profess to be
Christians, yet live lives not in keeping with the precepts of the Scripture,
i.e., compromising their biblical
beliefs by giving in to worldly pleasures, like King Solomon did. For them, the things of the world and its
sensual allurements take precedence over the Word of God, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the
Father but of the world” ( 1 John 2:16). Jesus referred to these people as “those who hear the word, but the cares of
the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things
enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Mark 4:18-19). These are the ones who,
though professing to follow Christ, compromise
their faith by proudly craving worldly success and accolades from their
fellow man. Jesus chastised such people who rationalized their questionable
behavior: “How can you believe, when you
receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the
only God?” (John 5:41-44).
Jesus taught the concept of
compromise brilliantly when He said, “No
one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). In other
words, to compromise in one’s total
allegiance and devotion to God is to allow the allurements of this world, with
its accompanying worries, to take precedence over Christ.
Compromising one time leads into a
slippery slope where the enemy has a toehold into your life and will use it to
draw you farther and farther along the pathway of disobedience. Each progressive compromise becomes easier
and easier until you are at the point of rationalizing that it is not sin.
Here are some ways how we compromise
the Word of God.
• When we fail to accept the Word: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
• When we place our desires, and that of others, ahead of the Word of God: “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:4).
As true believers in Christ, we must accept God’s Word as absolute, inerrant truth, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). We must be fully obedient to His Word, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). And we must recognize that His Word is not to be compromised for any reason or for any one, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot” (Revelation 3:15). Make a quality decision to refuse to take the first step of compromise. If you are already on the slippery slope of compromise repent and ask God to strengthen you to resist the temptation to compromise.
• When we fail to accept the Word: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
• When we place our desires, and that of others, ahead of the Word of God: “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:4).
As true believers in Christ, we must accept God’s Word as absolute, inerrant truth, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). We must be fully obedient to His Word, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). And we must recognize that His Word is not to be compromised for any reason or for any one, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot” (Revelation 3:15). Make a quality decision to refuse to take the first step of compromise. If you are already on the slippery slope of compromise repent and ask God to strengthen you to resist the temptation to compromise.
Prayer—Father
I as You to deliver me from the temptation to compromise and its invisible danger. I ask You to strengthen me by Your power and
might in the inner man so that I can stand whole and complete in You and be a
good witness for you, in Jesus Name.
Amen.
