We Love God!

God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)

The neglected heart will soon be a heart overrun with worldly thoughts; the neglected life will soon become a moral chaos; the church that is not jealously protected by mighty intercession and sacrificial labors will before long become the abode of every evil bird and the hiding place for unsuspected corruption. The creeping wilderness will soon take over that church that trusts in its own strength and forgets to watch and pray.
A.W. Tozer

Another occasion where alcohol is sinful is when our drinking causes another Christian to stumble. In Romans 14:12 we read, “It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.” The same principle is repeated in 1 Corinthians 8 where we are told to not take our liberties in Christ and use them to erect “a stumbling block to the weak” (1 Cor. 8:9). As long as sin is not involved, believers have Christian freedom to use alcohol if their conscience permits. However, God is very concerned that our freedoms do not cause another brother or sister in Christ to stumble. The Greek word for stumble is “skandalon.” What we are talking about here is someone for whatever reason chooses to refrain from alcohol but is now being tempted to drink by your consumption of alcohol in their presence. The Christian premise – we always restrict our freedoms if it means honoring the convictions of those we love in Christ.
Randy Smith