Americans have a heart problem. We are living, but not alive. Our hearts don't feel and we have become creatures of habit who live for the moment and only to please ourselves. Accountability and responsibility are things of the past. We have parents divorcing because it isn't what they thought it would be or they find it easier to say they need freedom now. Personal freedom comes with a price after you have asserted and interrupted someone else's life with what you thought you wanted at the time. Our children have become collateral damage in the process of people deciding this isn't working anymore, as if they won't notice they had two parents and a functioning family unit. The damage is then played out in their lives now and then later on in life when they realize what really happened.
The new saying YOLO is hilarious to me. You Only Live Once is catchy, but we have been there and done that in the past decades and it led to much destruction to minds and bodies then also. At a rapid rate, we are running ourselves in the ground and over indulging in whatever we want just to feel good and impress others. We own too much house, have leased cars, credit cards are maxed out and we don't know how to stop. In the course of this madness, we have lost ourselves and who we really are intended to be as human beings. Lost in this mess is our identities and we don't know who we are anymore and we think we need to try something else or someone else to see if we can get back an identity that was known and now lost in translation.
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul condemned a woman who lived solely for pleasure. He states that a woman who was godly and had a good testimony was one that Proverbs 31 describes:
1. Was known for her good works.
2. She raised her children well.
3. She was charitable in helping those outside her family who had needs.
4. She was a humble woman in contrast to living in pride, in that she showed her humility by doing the menial task of "washed the saints feet."
2. She raised her children well.
3. She was charitable in helping those outside her family who had needs.
4. She was a humble woman in contrast to living in pride, in that she showed her humility by doing the menial task of "washed the saints feet."
5. She demonstrated her love of God by showing love towards those that were burdened and afflicted in various types of trouble. She tries to relieve their suffering.
6. She diligently went about doing every type of good works, showing her devotion to the Lord.
The Apostle Paul also states that men should be "men" in the Bible. 1Corithinians 16:13-14 says, 'Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love' and the Bible instructs them to be:
1. Men who Lead. 1 Timothy 3:1-7 says to the male overseers (of family and church), The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
2. Men are Commanded to Love. Ephesians 5:25-29 says, Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.
What if we all followed God's high calling for our lives individually, being respectful, humble, accountable? If we all strive to do our part, we will live and love by allowing room for imperfect people to live in an imperfect world. If we work towards living by the tried, true and perfected Word of God; we would truly find ourselves living a life without regrets and full of peace and joy.
You Only Live Once..... YOLO.
Father in Heaven, thank you for today.. a new day to start over. Help me to live according to Your commands, living for a higher calling than exhausting my efforts to please the world. Help me live out this life according to biblical principles and commands. In Jesus Name, Amen.
