“I have the right to do anything,” you say-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 (1 Cor. 10:23-24).

     We love our rights in this country. We defend our rights in this country. We will die for our rights in this country. I am grateful that we have so many rights in this country. But having rights doesn’t mean we always do right with our rights. Right?

     How many times do we hear some variation of this argument? I have a right to say what I want. I can write what I want. I can post what I want. It’s a free country. That’s my right! For the most part, that’s true. You have the freedom to write hateful, bigoted things. You have the freedom to spread poorly researched and misleading stories. You have the right to say and do a whole host of things that just aren’t right for Christ followers. That’s what Paul says in both ch. 6 and 10. You have the right to do all kinds of things, but that does not make them beneficial. or constructive. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

    Here’s why. Something bigger than personal rights is at stake. We’re supposed to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, whose life is the model of being other-centered. We’re supposed to be about making the lives of others better, making the world better. Those who want to be first should let others go first and become last. Those who want to be great should serve and help others become great. In a “looking out for number one”, every man or woman for themselves kind of world, we follow the path of love, and love is not self-seeking.