I believe in an enemy of all mankind, a villain whose sole goal is to destroy us. I believe in a Savior, a hero whose sole goal is to deliver us. I believe in good and evil.
This is actually a belief that is fading away. Few believe in right and wrong anymore. Few react to right and wrong correctly anymore.
I believe in sin. And I believe there is a way I am supposed to react to sin. I have begun to understand the patterns of sin and the patterns of the evil-one who created it.
I believe in righteousness. I believe in the Source of that righteousness and I am beginning to understand what righteousness is...I believe it is not at all what many people would expect.
The pattern of the afore mentioned villain of our story are as follows:
If he cannot "get us" in one way, he tries another.
It is that simple, I believe. I believe that Satan is a simple creature. Sometimes I think him very stupid because he is so predictable, however I also think him clever sometimes because I often fall in his traps.
If he cannot get me in one way he moves on to the next.
This is how I explain the conquering of one struggle and how another rises up right afterwards.
I just want to wrap our minds around what these struggles are defined as for us Christians.
I believe that God is so mighty and wise. I believe that He has an order and a plan, however, it looks nothing like what we can imagine. I believe we can only look to Him always and seek Him and He'll let us know.
He has, however, defined quite clearly some things He wants us to do and some things He does not want us to do:
TO DO: DO NOT:
Love God Don't be jealous of what someone else has
Love our neighbor Don't be selfish or vain
Care for the sick and homeless and widowed Don't be prideful
Render to Cesar what is Cesar's Don't murder
and to God what is God's Don't lie
Be strong and of good courage Don't be a glutton
Love your wife Don't sin sexually
Follow your husband Don't be adulterous
Work out your own salvation Don't be afraid
Live a quiet life Don't hate
Mind your own business and Don't be lazy and foolish
Work with your hands Don't be frivolous
So that's just a few off the top of my head. Pretty clear, huh.
So yeah, if we who claim to follow God, the Father of Jesus Christ, do the things that are on God's do not do list, then we are sinning. Plain and simple. Sin is simply going against what God asked us to do.
You know, I think the world is trying really hard to convince everyone that there is no such thing as sin, the devil and God. No, it's not the world doing this, it is the devil himself. Oh, he uses words and people's feelings as mighty weapons against us!
You know what? I pause every few minutes to pray that God would help us all to see Him and His truth so we can follow Him. I'm not afraid that I'm going to be snatched up by Satan, but I do know that I and also you can be so blind. I put it in God's hands.
Anyway. There is sin. And you can look at that list and figure on which ones apply to you. If none apply to you, go back to the third one.
Now how should we react to sin? Should we do what the lord of the world is doing and slowly convince ourselves it is not sin? Should we make a prioritized list of which sin is worse than the others and decide we're "not that bad"? Only God is the judge of what is worse than what.
Should we begin to watch for these sins in others and save the world ourselves by fighting against them? Only God can judge others and only God can save the world.
Should we become terrified of doing something wrong? Should we punish ourselves? Should we take drastic measures to protect ourselves from temptation? The latter would not work - many have tried that! Look at the Amish or Mennonites. They may be chaste and hardworking and devoted, but again, Satan will get them in other ways. Even a pie recipe that you think is sooo much better than Edna's can be the sin of pride.
We can't run from sin. We can't beat it out of ourselves. Fighting is futile.
So here's the solution, here's the key:
Look to God. Seek Him with all that is in you. He is the only one who knows what's best. He is so wise and will give all we need in time. Praise Him, know and believe that He is good and will do what is best. He is everywhere. He is in you, He is in others, He is in the world and in the earth. If you look for Him you will find Him. If you trust in Him, you will find peace. If you make Him king of your life, He will set you free from sin and you. will. fly.
Righteousness is a very big word that may bring many thoughts to your mind. If you do not understand what righteousness means, it may sound super arrogant to you. But righteousness simply means united with God. A righteous person is the one who is sitting at the feet of the throne of the King as a humble servant who wants only what the King wants. The wise and good King who reigns justly. That is righteousness and that is what being a Christian means.
