With the new century, everything being available to us at our fingertips, there is nothing easier to obtain than instant gratification. We don't need to live by rules and at times we try to find ways to re-interpret even our governmental laws. There is no strict right or wrong, there is no good or bad beyond what we have established to be true.
Some may strongly disagree with this claim. I ask, who is it that creates what is right or wrong? Good or bad? Is there a congregation of professionals who get together and agree upon this? Is it society and government that have the right to conclude what the spectrum of right and wrong is? Some will create a distinction between Natural rights and Legal rights, do the cannibalistic societies do the same? I think in America, we hit the nail on the head with our founding documents:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Yes, my Bible and Creator has rules, but my point is not to argue who the creator is or what our rights are as humans. I'm here to explain the difference between living by rules and loving those rules we live by.
I've been asked before by a close friend, "Why do you live by a book of rules?" (Being the Bible)
I was bewildered for a minute because the question confused me. I don't live by a book of rules, I thought. But I had to step back and evaluate where the question came from; a friend who didn't understand Christianity.
My response was this: I LOVE that we aren't supposed to kill each other. To me, that is not a rule, it is a suggestion that provides for a better life for all parties involved. When I read the Biblical commandments, I don't see hindering rules to live my life by. I see suggestions and forewarnings to avoid certain actions that destroy your life. We humans are stubborn; we often find it hard to believe that certain things destroy life. Our flesh enjoys drinking and getting drunk, until we're sick the next day, overweight next year, and losing our liver in 10 years.
We enjoy indulging in many other instant gratifications like sex, food, money but we never slow down to realize the consequences of those actions, either immediate or long term. Sex with multiple mates leads to STD's, unfathered children, and a tortured mind that feels like the next man or woman will provide the happiness that we seek. We know what eating fast food leads to. And money, although many things cost money, it never leads to happiness but only to power struggles, fights and greed. It is difficult to overcome our desires and it takes discipline. But what we have to remind ourselves is that although my immediate desire is to indulge, my long term desire is happiness.
In my answer to the question; Christianity is not about rules. It is about a God who knows what a fruitful life is. It is a God who created life, love and happiness and He knows the best way to achieve it. Although our flesh desires the temptations of this world, our spirit will always hunger for something more until we find that which truly fills it: God.
"I will put My teachings within them, and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people." Jeremiah 31:33
Laws written on the heart, are not laws at all, but rather actions lived out of understanding, discernment, and love. Our God loves us and He knows more than anyone, that He is the way, the truth, and the life.
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