A Life Without Rules
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 2 Timothy 3:2-4
I read an article today detailing why so many are stepping away from the Christian faith. While I could expound on each "reason" they gave, I will limit myself to just one. You might want to sit down for this one. There are too many rules to follow. The article stated that many feel, "...it can feel very authoritarian, and more individuals are staying far away from anything that restricts their freedoms in any way."
Simply put, they want to live life without anyone telling them what to do. I know, it took me a moment to pick my jaw off the floor, too.
Well, you can't say we weren't warned. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy that people would become so enamored with themselves that they would become their own god. By the way, isn't this how the first sins were committed? Self-love brought Eve to want to be like God and Cain to hate Abel because his sacrifice was better and accepted by God. With self-love comes self-exaltation and self-worship. And these three will bring destruction to our lives.
Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't love ourselves. We are masterpieces created by the Creator and Almighty God. We should care for our bodies and minds and nurture our souls.
Rules and guidelines are part of life. We must follow moral and legal guides each day and answer to someone higher than ourselves. While at school, students are subject to teachers and administrators. On the job, we are subject to policies, procedures, our supervisors, and a governing board. At home, the Bible clearly outlines the hierarchy of leadership and even those who live alone, still can't live life as a free bird.
Without structure, chaos ensues. This ideology of doing what's right in our own eyes will result in disorder and confusion. (and we know who the author of confusion is, don't we?)
The hypocrisy of this "reason" is that people will leave Christianity because of rules, but will sign the mortgage agreement on a house, report to work each shift, drive the speed limit, and many other rules and regulations placed upon us as a civilized society without a second thought. So why the church?
One word: Sin.
People don't want to be told they are doing something wrong. We see this daily as tolerance is shouted from the hilltop for sinful lifestyles and "other" genders. The love of self separates man from God because, as Paul said, we must die daily to self to have a righteous relationship with Him.
God didn't institute the 10 Commandments to make our lives hard or to limit our fun. He gave them to us so that we could not suffer the consequences that sin, self-love, self-exaltation and self-worship bring into our lives. He loved us so much that He gave His Son for our sacrifice so that we can enjoy a life of freedom in His love, abiding by His guidelines.
C
I read an article today detailing why so many are stepping away from the Christian faith. While I could expound on each "reason" they gave, I will limit myself to just one. You might want to sit down for this one. There are too many rules to follow. The article stated that many feel, "...it can feel very authoritarian, and more individuals are staying far away from anything that restricts their freedoms in any way."
Simply put, they want to live life without anyone telling them what to do. I know, it took me a moment to pick my jaw off the floor, too.
Well, you can't say we weren't warned. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy that people would become so enamored with themselves that they would become their own god. By the way, isn't this how the first sins were committed? Self-love brought Eve to want to be like God and Cain to hate Abel because his sacrifice was better and accepted by God. With self-love comes self-exaltation and self-worship. And these three will bring destruction to our lives.
Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't love ourselves. We are masterpieces created by the Creator and Almighty God. We should care for our bodies and minds and nurture our souls.
Rules and guidelines are part of life. We must follow moral and legal guides each day and answer to someone higher than ourselves. While at school, students are subject to teachers and administrators. On the job, we are subject to policies, procedures, our supervisors, and a governing board. At home, the Bible clearly outlines the hierarchy of leadership and even those who live alone, still can't live life as a free bird.
Without structure, chaos ensues. This ideology of doing what's right in our own eyes will result in disorder and confusion. (and we know who the author of confusion is, don't we?)
The hypocrisy of this "reason" is that people will leave Christianity because of rules, but will sign the mortgage agreement on a house, report to work each shift, drive the speed limit, and many other rules and regulations placed upon us as a civilized society without a second thought. So why the church?
One word: Sin.
People don't want to be told they are doing something wrong. We see this daily as tolerance is shouted from the hilltop for sinful lifestyles and "other" genders. The love of self separates man from God because, as Paul said, we must die daily to self to have a righteous relationship with Him.
God didn't institute the 10 Commandments to make our lives hard or to limit our fun. He gave them to us so that we could not suffer the consequences that sin, self-love, self-exaltation and self-worship bring into our lives. He loved us so much that He gave His Son for our sacrifice so that we can enjoy a life of freedom in His love, abiding by His guidelines.
C
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