"Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him" (vs 17). What does it mean to lead the life the Lord has assigned to you? Or, the life to which you are called?
I would venture to say that many Christians think of that verse as referring to the specifics of their life: "Is it God's will for me to have this job?", or, "Where does God want me to live?", or, "Is this the person God wants me to marry?"
Does it make sense for us to understand this verse in this way? Well I think the next few verses tell us something about that. Paul begins to address the issues of circumcision. It seems that there was a disagreement amongst the Corinthians about this, about whether or not it was God's will for Christians to be circumcised or not. But Paul says it's not about circumcision, "but keeping the commandments of God" (vs 19).
He's saying that God's will for our lives is that we do what he has commanded us, which is to love him and love others. But within those commandments there is freedom in how that plays out in our lives. God is much less concerned about where you live, or what you do for work, or who you marry. Rather, his will for your life is that as you make those decisions, your heart's greatest desire is to love and serve him.
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