I used to really wind my brother up. I knew what ticked him off and I knew which buttons to push. It was great fun, I used to wind him up and then think to myself “watch out he’s gonna blow.” It’s was daft really, some of the things that wound him up, would never wind me up. How about you? Do you know what things wind up certain people? Do you sit there thinking wow, it doesn’t wind me up, why should it wind them up, but secretly you know it does wind them up. That’s what Paul is on about in this passage, he simply says, don’t do it. If you know that doing something will put someone into a position that they are going to sin, don’t do it. If you know that a mate has a problem avoiding drugs, don’t take them to places where there might be drugs. If you know that a mate has trouble with anger, help them by keeping them away from situations where they may get angry. Sounds simple really doesn’t it? But then, often what God teaches us in the Bible is simply common sense.
