MORAL VALUES

There are many "moral" people in this world. 

The trouble is that, when we make a stand based on "moral standards," we enter into conflict with many others who have different "moral standards."

But whose morals are the correct ones?

There are also many others in this world who have no use for any moral standards. They are a law unto themselves. They reject any societal rules, common manners or ethics, and replace them with their own "situational ethics."

What we seem to fail to grasp is that we cannot function in our nation or the world with no moral standards or even divided moral standards. This is not to say that we should not have the freedom to have personal tastes but as Amos the prophet so aptly states:

Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
Amos 3:3

The "If it feels good do it" mentality that has been so thoroughly engrained in American culture tells us that we are free - not to merely have our own tastes - but to create our own morals and ethics.

In the end, we will not be judged by our own individual morals. We will be judged by God's holy standards and morals which are extremely high. We will not be judged "on the curve" as many suppose, comparing ourselves to others. We will judged by comparison to Jesus who never sinned. In fact, God's moral standards are so high that we cannot possibly live up to them! That is because man is fallen and has a bent to live by fallen morals.  

What can we do?

We must turn away from our own fallen standards and turn to God. That is called repenting - or "turning away" from our sins! We do this by giving our lives to Jesus Christ!

This message has decayed through the years. Now we are told to merely say a prayer to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. No change is necessary - something like a "get-out-of-jail-free-card." Certainly such a prayer can be a wonderful tool - but God is not nearly as impressed with our words as He is with the condition of our hearts.

Jesus' taught us that there is a distinct difference between what we say and what is in our hearts:

"These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me."
Matthew 15:8
and instinctively  We are born with hearts that intuitively go astray. But when we turn to God, He supernaturally transforms our hearts - that is called, "the new birth," or being, "born again."

Without this new birth, we can only grasp in the dark to establish our own moral standards. One look at today's world should tell us that this has not worked very well!

We cannot fully be at peace and in agreement with our fellow man in this life. But the more we are changed - in the heart - the more our minds and hearts will be opened to God's standards!

Many criticize God in favor of their own man-made morals. But God tells us how it will be when He rules:

But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
Psalms 37:11

Ask Jesus in your heart today. We must ALL turn from your own ways and allow God to transform us. I dare say this is our only hope for each one of us personally and can even spread to changing our nation and our world!