What follows is my opinion. You can take it, or leave it right here. My hope is that it stirs something in you...
Many of us were raised in homes that were intended to be centered on biblical values or were at least aware and had some knowledge of virtue based living. If you're old enough, like me, you lived under laws and guiding concepts in calmer times that were primarily in agreement with the Ten Commandments and bore the essence of a bent toward righteousness. Were there troubles in those days? Of course. Wherever human beings are present, trouble may not be far away. But even so, it was a different time.
It was a time when respect for the separation between right and wrong seemed to be more clear and prevalent and when respect in general was a more common attribute ... along with a desire for respectability. None of this is intended to say that there were not serious issues that remained to be dealt with in society then, but the demeanor and countenance were very different than in current society.
Today, depravity, individualism, lust, greed and perversion are celebrated and strongly pushed, if not demanded, to be given acceptability as a commonplace requirement - even by our governments. I stand firmly to say that this is happening as a gradual and unrestrained result of having lost our moral compass - our respect for our God and Creator. Even among some of those who purport to fall under the banner of "Christian", the inclination toward treating God's offered path as a business or hollow regimen instead of the intended life-giving relationship has become more prevalent along with the stolen freedom to interpret the divinely inspired text of the scriptures to satisfy one's own carnal tendencies. In my mind, this can only happen when one loses holy fear and respect for The Living God... And I have no doubt that He will exact payment for unrepentance.
Respect for anything has fallen as a more commonly held attribute to a more rare standing and as I begin to assess my own respect - thinking about where I place it, how much I have and who and what I give it to, I find myself wondering how my placement and measure of respect measures up to God's standards...
“Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NLT)
As Christ's true followers, we're called to be set apart from the world - not part of it. We and our lives are not to be governed by the world's society and its corrupted standards, but by the pure and righteous standards of God. All of our comings and goings and the words and deeds that emanate from us should conform to the higher and immovable standards of the highest government of the God who holds life and death in His hands. We know that we're not perfect and that our actions and motivations may fall short at times, but our intention and bent should always be conformity with Him and His standards and that we can thankfully find forgiveness for our shortcomings by our confession and repentance in Christ. Our lives as His children are blessed when our obedience leads us to follow HIS standards and HIS ways.
The world is wicked, ...
"But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NLT)
I find myself continually re-examining God's standards to see where I stand with them personally and find myself in need of repentance occasionally still - even after all of these years. But this is a part of the process of sanctification - becoming conformed more closely to Christ's image... and more closely to Christ in relationship with Him. It's not a time to become discouraged, but instead a time of encouragement to become even more closely connected to who I am intended by my Creator to be.
I have no desire to become led by the world's society. I know where that path leads and I want no part of it. My government, my society, is the one who has one eternal, sovereign and supreme ruler - the God who reigns over heaven and earth and will continue to rule when the world's society is no more...
...That makes it supremely important that I know where I stand with Him and His standards all of the time.
Do you know where YOU stand?
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