Devotional 11 November 2025

November 11, 2025 • Steve Torres

1 Corinthians 6:12.jpg

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” (1 Corinthians 6:12–13, ESV)

Paul exposes the danger of confusing freedom with indulgence. The Corinthians had twisted his teaching on grace into a license for sin, quoting slogans like “All things are lawful for me” to justify their desires. Paul doesn’t deny Christian liberty, but he redefines it: freedom in Christ is not the removal of restraint, but the power to live under a higher purpose. True freedom refuses to be enslaved by anything less than Christ Himself.

He uses a vivid analogy (the stomach and food) to reveal the difference between what is temporary and what is eternal. Just as both food and appetite will one day pass away, the physical desires of the flesh are not ultimate. Yet, the body itself is not disposable or meaningless; it was made for the Lord. God created us not merely to exist, but to dwell with Him, to be the temple of His Spirit.

The greatest tragedy is not hunger but misplaced hunger. We easily recognize when our bodies are starving, but rarely when our souls are. The believer’s call is to feed the eternal appetite — to hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). The body finds its truest fulfillment not in satisfying fleeting cravings, but in communion with the Lord who both redeems and indwells it. Freedom in Christ is not the freedom to do all things, but to choose what draws us closer to Him.