Today we are going to discuss our motives and how our morals and/or lack of morals drive us. When we start to look at society and especially social media, we can clearly get an idea of what people’s motives are. When can easily see what their goals and end game is. But not only for themselves, but to influence others to be like them. That’s how we get the term "influencer”. One of the most common themes is money and fame and how to get a lot of it. And this is where we will pretty much allow our morals or better yet the lack of morals to get the best of us. We can very easily say that we judge ourselves on how others see or relate to us. We often get in the competition of "keeping up with the Jones”. We are driven by how others view us. It is almost like a track meet on who is winning the game in life. We live in the current time when enough is not enough. There is nothing wrong with being successful and striving to always be getting better, earning more, etc. But when our only motive is to do those things, it can be a strain on our value to ourselves, and often time we will compromise our morality to keep doing things. So, the big question is what constitutes our morality, what is the gauge. People’s morals will vary differently for many reasons. As believers in Jesus, our morals should line up with Jesus’s morals. Being rich was never a motive of Jesus, but He did need to get and have money. Scripture back that up one hundred percent. Fame was also never a motive of Jesus. Even eating fancy dinners was never His concern. Let’s start off today and look at when Jesus is tempted by the Devil.
Matthew 4:1-11
(1) Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. (2) And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. (3) And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. (4) But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (5) Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, (6) and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, Lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (7) Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (8) Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; (9) and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (10) Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (11) Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Every time I read this set of verses it reminds me of pretty much everything you see on social media. Everyone offering a quick fix for "life”. Every influencer seems to have the keys to your success, if you would only do what they are doing. Jesus’s morals were all about God’s kingdom and not about a kingdom he could make for Himself. We need to really let this seek in and quit trying to make a kingdom for ourselves, but to keep building God’s kingdom. This is not a very popular subject in today’s time, even among many Christians. As a business owner myself, it is easy to get caught up on what all other businesses are doing in my same field and start to try to mimic them thinking that is the way for my success. Hint, it’s not. My business was not put here to do what others are doing, but to do what I know God has directed me to do. I will admit, it is easy to get caught up in the moment. Many people come saying we need to be doing this and that. That is when I must really test the spirits to see what is of God and not for my business. A lot of tough decisions have to be made, and many times a lot of people are not happy. That is when you have to stick to your Godly morals, and not compromise.
So, what are God’s morals or morality. The past few weeks we have been studying the Sabbath, and when it was instructed to be observed in the Ten Commandments. When we see all the Commandments, we can assume that that would be a good starting point to God’s morality. We might also conclude that any kind of sin would be immoral in God’s eyes.
1st John3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law
Throughout the Bible there are many verses that will demonstrate what sin is. There are many but I want to share these few because they cover a lot.
1st Corinthians 6 (9) Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, (10) nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Galations 5 (19) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (20) idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, (21) envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
We can easily conclude these are immoral values of God, and many of these are used to get ahead in life, or even to influence others to get a head in life. Every one of these acts can keep you out of Heaven. Raise your hand if you are guilty of any of these. (My hand slowly going up)
When we continue in Galations, we can easily see the set of morals God is placing on us. It is all described with the fruits of the Spirit.
Galations 5 (22 )But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (24) And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (25) If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (26) Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
If you want to be successful with God’s success that he has for you, the following verses will lead you.
Psalms 112
(1) Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, That delighteth greatly in his commandments. (2) His seed shall be mighty upon earth: The generation of the upright shall be blessed. (3) Wealth and riches shall be in his house: And his righteousness endureth for ever. (4) Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. (5) A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: He will guide his affairs with discretion. (6) Surely he shall not be moved for ever: The righteous shall be in everlasting emembrance. (7) He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: His heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. (8) His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, Until he see his desire upon his enemies. (9) He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; His righteousness endureth for ever; His horn shall be exalted with honour. (10) The wicked shall see it, and be grieved;
He shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: The desire of the wicked shall perish.
Our morality must be centered upon God and His ways. Any other way will possibly get you riches and fame, but at what cost? We need to not sell ourselves so easily just to get ahead or for some quick fix. Stay the course with God, the result will never fail.
COMMENTS
[ posted by Cindy, 02/14/2024 02:18 PM ]
Were you peeking to see that my hand also raised?One thing we have to realize, we will never be sinless. We have all sinned. But, is our responsibility to change and try not to sin or be influenced by society's temptations once we are followers of Christ. And, it is not easy, is it? It is hard to walk that straight line. Only one person has ever done that, and never stepped off the path of righteousness and holiness. Jesus. If you don't change your heart, you just redirect your sins. Gods Word ( the Bible) gives us the guidelines for our life. What He wants from us, those morals, or our morality thru life. Anything immoral is against God. The Ten Commandments were the start of how to live, add in the 'fruits of the spirit' to it, as Mike stated in Galatians 5, but also gives specifics of what not to do. I think we have to start with God who has already given us what we need to know. We cannot follow two masters. Either we will follow God, or follow man' s world. Matt 6:24 " No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one , and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." mammon is defined as : biblical term for riches, often used to describe the debasing influence of material wealth. Gold, money, possessions, etc. Jesus lived by the moral conduct He asks us to also live by. Behavior with (in Galatians 5 also) : "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control..." Have we read in any of our studies that Jesus talked ugly to a sinner he encountered? Did he talk ugly to anyone he healed? What about the prostitute? The society outcasts? Criminals? Did He act unkind? Act impatient? Act without compassion or empathy? Nope. The only people He scolded were the Pharisees and Scribes. They were the " moral" leaders but Jesus saw how their morals were not genuine in some of their acts and behaviors. He used some pretty scathing remarks to them in Matt 23 starting at verse (13 )woe, you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites... " He is calling them out for their immoral behavior. Sounds pretty rough if you keep reading thru verse 36. Were their actions serving God or man and themselves? Seems like Jesus saw they did things a certain way for God, but perhaps weren't fully representing the God they were forcing the rules so much on others, but not as much for themselves. I looked up "woe" . It means a judgement, or curse. Jesus knew the things they were doing were sometimes a show for the others, because they were supposed to have a higher moral code to live by. Humans also sometimes want to show an outward look of Christianity, but their actions or morals don't align with God's words. The Bible and its words should be our standards (our morals) to live by. When we sin and separate ourself from God and His standard we're told the consequences of that. Who enforces that? God does and He will. We have the knowledge God has given us thru His words. 2 Peter 1: 3-4 " According to his divine knowledge hath given unto us all things pertaining to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath been called us to glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Lust isn't just a sexual thing. Lust can be just the same for fame, money, etc. The extreme desire to aquire any of those things,etc. Like Mike explains social media is full of get famous, get rich, get expensive possessions, get millions of followers as an influencer.... those are considered lusts of the world. Not good morals to have and live by. Did Jesus have any of that? He didn't get famous for having so many followers...but for what He told them was a promise for a future with Him and the Father for eternity. Redemption from sin and its judgement. Jesus's followers couldn't see, touch, hold or store up anything physical of what He was offering them. What do the Kardashians have to offer their hundreds of millions of followers? I'll wait for some answers.....lol I think our morals come from seeking God's knowledge He gives to us in the Bible. 1) Follow Jesus, and put our trust in Him. Matt 22:37 " thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and all thy mind." Your mind has your knowledge. 2) Read and study God's words. Use it like a survival guide. It has answers to all the problems and scenerios you will encounter in life. God has an answer for everything. 3) Obey God. He will never fail you. Everything He does is for His ordained purpose in your life. Our knowledge of what God has spoken for us, tells us what he expects of us, the type of moral Godly life to show Him we believe His promises to us. We have to live a different standard of morals when being born again and/ or baptized in Jesus. We throw out the old and start new. Be prepared to change your standards and values. How you look at and evaluate good and bad. Do what God tells you or leads you to do. 2 Peter is only 3 chapters long, but he mentions ' knowledge' 14 times. Must be pretty important to learn and know what God wants us to know about a Christian life. And the different factors out there that take you away from living a moral life thru Jesus. We learn from an early age right from wrong. And if you did wrong, you knew it. And Mom or Dad gave you a whipping. As you get older, your spirit will convict you when you sin. You know it's wrong. When you had children where did you get your rules (or morals) of behavior for them? What was acceptable in the family and society? Because you knew what was right, and what was wrong. Mom/Dad again can be used as a reference here. LoL Where did they get their morals? Jesus and how He lived is the example of morals to live by. We are examples of Jesus when we live by good morals. Remember when WWJD was a big deal? What Would Jesus Do? It was to think before your actions. If Jesus were in a certain scenerio, what would He do, or say, ...etc. When God looks at you and me, what does He see? Are we living up to His standard? You and I will never be sinless. God knows that. But does He see us doing the very best we can using Him and His knowledge to help resist sinful temptations and not use Godly morals? Do we set a good example of Jesus when we are around people? Do our lives and behaviors directly show the morals of being a Christian and followers of Jesus? God can't bless us if we don't use his knowledge and follow his rules. Matt 5: 3-12. That is our reward for living a moral, Christian life. That is all Jesus' followers had. No limelight, no riches, no superbowl equivalent superstar performances... Just Jesus and an eternal life with Him and the Father in heaven.
[ posted by Megan, 02/19/2024 09:58 AM ]
Lots of good comments here! Jacob and I have this conversation regularly as he often is stuck between what others may want him to do vs what his heart says to do. We also talk a lot about who you surround yourself with influences others around you and says a lot about who you are, the choices you make so it's always good to have likeminded people who support your dreams, values, morals. On the back of Jacob's door I have a printed verse for him to read daily; 2 Timothy 1:7 - For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. We all have the tools within us but often times are too 'influenced' by everything else around us. As I grow older my morals need my way and it's easier to cut out things/people that no longer align with who I want to be in Jesus.