Jesus said, "If you love me,
you will obey what I command" (John 14:15,
NIV).
A Daily Encounter reader writes: "I know lovely people who go to
church and say they want and embrace an intimate relationship with
Jesusand are living with their lovers outside of marriage. A girl
who works where I work says she loves Jesus and wants a close
relationship with him. She goes to church every Sunday and is
living with her boyfriend. We can't judge."
How sad or rather, delusional, when we say we love the Lord but
don't obey him. As Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what
I command." The reality is it's what we do, not what we say, that
counts.
True, as Christians we have freedom and don't want to slip back
into legalismthat is, doing the "right" thing outwardly but not
from the heart. At the same time, our freedom or liberty in Christ
is not a license to do as we please. As the Bible also says, "What
then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under
grace? God forbid" (Romans 6:15, KJV). If we do keep sinning, we
actually lose our freedom because we become a slave to, rather than
a master of, sin.
Our reader also says that we can't judge. Actually, while we are
not to judge others, we are to judge actions. Again, God's Word
says, "But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is
rightly judged by no one" (1 Corinthians 2:14, NKJV).
Pastors and teachers are also instructed to rebuke and correct
people who are sinning. Admittedly, there is a fine line between
judging people and their actions, but if Christians would read the
Bible, know what it teaches, and were sincere about obeying the
Lord, their actions would judge themselves.
Sadly, too, what so many people fail to realize is that God's
instructions are for our good, not to take away the joy of living.
Living in harmony with God's will gives us true liberty but it
doesn't give us a license to do as we please. Also, when we sin, we
not only hurt ourselves but very often others as well.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to love you sincerely
from the heart. Help me to overcome my bent for sinning so that I
will always want to live in harmony with your will and live to
please you and not myself. Thank you for hearing and answering my
prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
[/b]
