Many people claim to be religious in some way or another. Many are convinced they are religious, while many could not tell if they were or not. One of the problems is that people pretend to be religious for the wrong reasons.
In Galatians 6: 6-8 we read: Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he shall also reap. If he sows to the flesh he will reap corruption, but if he sows to the spirit, he will reap eternal life.
The only way to be sure that you will reap eternal life is to sow to the Spirit. How is this done? Let us take a derivative of the word; let us look at the idea of spiritual. Spiritual thinking, living, talking, and behaving means doing things with God and heaven in mind. We should be asking ourselves if God is pleased with my behavior, speech, or life. Am I living up to a standard that God will be pleased with? In order to answer that, we must find what standard God finds acceptable. Where do we find this standard? In the Bible, of course.
Everything in life would be confusing if we did not have standards. We need standards in distance, time, capacity, and weight. We need these to measure things to see if we are getting value with our money. We buy things by the measurement, or weight. We would not be pleased to find that one stores standards are different from another stores standards. How would we know if we are getting value or ripped off?
Even God spoke of this in the Bible in the book of Proverbs. It is an abomination for one to have the wrong standard, yet allow people to think they are getting the right standard.
Many business people have got into trouble for having short measures or wrong weights.
A problem we have in our world is that many pretend to be religious, yet do not live up to the standard that Christ gave us. There are many passages that describe the behavior of a Christian, and also the behavior of a sinner (or wicked person). We are to seek the good behavior that is commendable to God, and abstain from the evil behaviors described in the Bible.
Just imagine our world if everyone tried to do those good things mentioned in the Bible. People would not be trying to steal. There would be no dishonesty. There would be the seeking of better things for everyone else. There would be kindness, and people would be giving God the glory. But our world is not where it needs to be. Greed and selfishness motivate most people. Sex is an addiction that is promoted in our society, and every evil way that sex can be used is promoted as good. We watch the way the homosexual community has changed the minds of society. What will we do when pedophiles start demanding their special rights?
Well, our world and society we live in may continue to be corrupt and evil, but we do not have to be. If more of us citizens would start living lives that God was pleased with, our world would get better. This means that those pretending to be religious need to change their ways and actually be religious. Many claim to be Christian, but their behavior does not reflect such. And because many behave that way, the evil worldly people find justification to continue in their evil ways.
Don’t let that happen to you. Seek to learn God’s ways and live accordingly. If you do, you can go to heaven, because Jesus died on the cross for that to be possible. If you put your trust in God and obey His commandments, you will be rewarded, and not punished.
Let us help you on your spiritual journey. Let us help you focus your life towards spiritual service and behavior. Join us for worship on Sunday at 10:45am and 5:00pm, and bible class Sunday at 9:45am and Wednesday at 7:00pm.
Eastside church of Christ
Corner of Strawn Rd and Young St in Ranger Texas
By Carey Scott