| We continue God’s life-principles from the 5th commandment (Exodus 20). I pray that you would continue to discover that all God’s principles when applied are good for man-kind. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” God displays a generational perspective. His purposes are more extensive than can be accomplished within one generation. Often a generation would succeed in accomplishing some of God’s objectives, but fail to complete others. It would be up to the next generation to build on the knowledge of the previous generation to progress “the plan” and correct/avoid the mistakes of the previous generation. God describes Himself as the Lord of many generations. “God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” – Exodus 3:15 God offers forgiveness and blessing to each individual that call upon His name. A new generational relationship is started when an individual turns to God. Those who do not accept God’s gift of forgiveness in Jesus Christ and reject His life giving principles are held accountable over generational boundaries. “…visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” – Exodus 5b-6 Jesus, The Son of God, honored His Father’s will in giving His life for the salvation of man-kind. God promises a long (or blessed) life to those who treat their parents with respect. This principle makes sense, not only from a spiritual point of view, but also from a natural perspective. By honoring our parents in a healthy relationship, we benefit from their life-experience, avoid making the same mistakes and build on their accomplishments. No need to reinvent the wheel. God’s love is extended through the family unit that functions according to His design, with honor and respect. The hierarchy is intended to be a natural support system in life – small enough to enable sufficient oversight. “You shall not murder” This one is pretty straight forward, but Jesus had more to add during His sermon on the mount. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ [worthless one] shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ [idiot] shall be in danger of hell fire.” –Mathew 5:21-22 It is possible to “commit murder” in God’s eyes by venting anger at your “brother” without cause, physiologically tearing them down by telling them that they are worthless, or classifying God’s creation as an idiot. Bitterness and anger must be replaced by forgiveness, just as God forgives His people. Harboring bitterness and anger only impacts our own lives negatively; it does not achieve anything good. The actions of people can be judged according to God’s principles, but the worth of a creation of God can only be determined by the creator Himself. God loves all of His children equally and died for all man-kind even while we were still sinners. Every life matters. “You shall not commit adultery” Again Jesus had more to say on the subject during the Sermon on the Mount. “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” – Mathew 5:28 Marriage is holy before God. Jesus refers to His relationship with the church (believers) as a marriage covenant between the Groom and His bride. Jesus suffered greatly for the sake of His “spouse”. “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery…” – Mark 7:21 Every action that we take starts with a thought in our minds. Sin is initiated when we entertain an impure thought and it is completed when we act. We have a choice to reject the thought and replace it with a pure thought. If we fail to reject an impure thought, we are still able not to act on our thoughts. In other words, we have multiple chances not to make a mistake. Men’s desires are mostly driven by visual stimulation. The notion that a man’s reactions are instinctive and therefor boys will be boys, is false! I do not for one moment presume that the battle with our sin nature is not challenging, but it can be won. It is a choice to “look twice” at an attractive woman, it is choice to expose oneself to visually stimulating temptations, it is a choice to watch the wrong movies or visit sports-bars with scantily clad woman, it is a choice to “forget” that your wife is in the trenches raising your children …etc. The best defense is offence. Stay away. In a culture where the female form is used so abundantly in commerce to sell products and services, it requires intent to keep your marriage secure and holy before God. With the help of the Holy Spirit, it is possible. Woman’s desires are mostly driven by emotional stimulation. Romantic novels and movies about the super-human hero, the guy at work that understands your needs and are always ready to listen, the eligible bachelor with his mansion and small fortune that will give her everything she’s ever needed etc.. By choosing to live in a fantasy world, desiring another life, the love and support for your husband that God expects is withheld from him and “given” to another. Ultimately the fantasies of married men and woman lead to false expectations and end in disappointment and hurt. Statistics reveal that second or later marriages are much more likely to end in divorce. Once again God had the best interest of His people in mind when He stipulated that we should be loyal to our marriage partner. Marriage is the pinnacle of natural relationships that we engage in on earth. A marriage before God establishes a spiritual bond that shall not be broken. We are responsible for our marriages before God. My marriage started to blossom when my spouse and I decided to put God first and to serve each other according to His Word. This series will be concluded next time when we discuss the last three commandments. I end today’s blog article with some related verses from the Bible. “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” – 2 Corinthians 10:5 “I have made a covenant with my eyes; How then could I gaze at a virgin?” – Job 31:1 “Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.” – Proverbs 4:25 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:12 Have a blessed week. Read Part V |