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The Case of Declining Morals

by Jerry Ousley
11/17/2023 / Christian Living

The Case of Declining Morals

By Jerry D. Ousley

The world of today. What marvels we have seen. What unique and exciting accomplishments in technology we now experience. I remember when we got our first telephone. It was the old dial phone on a party line. Most today don’t even know what that is. But if you picked up the phone to make a call, the first thing you did was listen to make sure whoever shared that line with you wasn’t talking. If not and you got a dial tone, then you could make your call. But you had to listen very closely because if there was a nosy neighbor who liked gossip, you might have just had a third party listening to your conversation.

But now we have our own personal phone. It isn’t on a party line, and you can carry it in your pocket, anywhere you go. There are few places where you can’t get reception and not only does it make calls but it takes pictures, allows access to the internet, plays games, let’s you view what might be going on in your house because of access to cameras, and a host of other things.

What could be lacking today? Ah yes, we seem to be experiencing a case of declining morals. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find people with morals. What are morals? In stories they are the point that is being made by the story itself. In life, it is treating people in a way of respect and kindness. Morals are works we do to treat others as we’d like to be treated.

You might hear someone talking about morals putting the emphasis on hair color and length, or how others dress or don’t dress. However, morals aren’t reflected by our outward appearance, (though there are times that the outward appearance reflects what might be in our hearts) but by what comes from the inside of us. Green hair, for instance, while it may not appeal to some of us, doesn't necessarily affect the inward. Youth demands one to be different, and often times that is exercised in an outrageous appearance. Again, we may not like it, but it really hurts no one.

What is rotting our moral fiber and shocks us to the utmost is the increasing lack caring whether we have respect for our elders, consideration for those around us, and most importantly, disregard for God Himself. We can blame this trend on any number of things, and perhaps they contribute more than we'd like to think, but the truth of the matter is that separation from God is something most don't even give a second thought to. There was a time in this nation when God was highly respected. Today we are finding that anyone who wants to live by the morals of the Bible is looked on with disdain, disrespect and in some cases, even hatred. I realize that complete freedom requires us to put up with those who would be anti-God-like, but at the same time it doesn't mean that you force the rest of the population to accept or even regard as normal, their way of life.

What can we do about it? Of course, we need change. But in reality, people don’t much like change. For the most part, the answer is not to just undo the laws that may have been passed but to change the very lives of the individuals we are talking about. Have you ever tried to get rid of a spider? You tear the web down thinking it might go somewhere else, but then the next day the web is back. You can tear down the results of the spider but the only way to really get rid of it is to kill the spider. Just like the spider, we can't get rid of the lack of morals in our nation by stopping the results of the immorality. We must change the lives of those committing immorality.

Jesus Christ knew this. He didn't spend a lot of time telling people who were in trouble why they had arrived at where they were, but how to get out of it and stay out of it. To change our nation, we must change lives. But how can we change lives unless they see the example in progress? Before we can even begin to hope to change the world, we must change ourselves. "Do as I say not as I do . . . " is a philosophy that never has, nor ever will, work. To begin a change, we must quit pointing the finger, and start a moral inventory of our own lives.

In Acts 26:19-20, Paul was standing before his accusers. He made this statement about works – “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.” He wasn't saying that we should get our lives straightened up before we could ever hope to be a Christian. If we study his writings and letters, we soon find that Paul was first to tell us that our works could never be good enough to save us. This is the first hurdle we must face: GOOD WORKS DON'T MAKE A CHRISTIAN! In fact, the Bible tells us that whatever good works we may do, whether great or small, are all of equal value to God - Just like filthy, dirty rags worth nothing more than the trash can.

Our good works can never fill the great gap that mankind put between himself and God. It is an unreachable stretch. No bridge that man could ever build, no tower could ever reach high enough to make things right with God. That is why God took on human form, as the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the God-man. Only He was worthy to bridge that gap with every sinless drop of blood He had. He paid the price; He alone was worthy to bridge the gap. The only way we can get across is on the bridge He made.

When we realize this, when we experience this in our lives, then we have the capability to change the declining morality we face today. Not in ourselves, nor in our words, but in Christ and by His word, and also with the word people read in our lives each day. If we don't reflect it, then it is not seen. The moon is only seen because of its reflection in the rays of the sun. So, any good works that may be in our lives are merely reflections of the Son of God from us. Works that are worthy of repentance are to accept the fact that we are sinners unworthy of the mercy of God. Know that we are saved only by His grace upon us. Confess this to God, to others, and to ourselves. Believe in our hearts that this is truth and that Jesus was raised from the dead. When we do this and really believe, we will be saved (Romans 10:9-10).

There was a man who did not believe in God. The local pastor had tried many times to convince him of his need of salvation and to believe in the Lord. But no matter how much he tried, he just couldn’t get it straight in his mind. One winter, it had become extremely cold. As he looked out his window, he could see a group of birds in desperate need of heat. He thought, “If I could just get them into the barn out of the wind it could save their lives.” So, he bundled up, went outside and opened the barn door. Then he tried to chase the birds into the barn. But they only flew to another spot in the yard. All his efforts only made the matter worse. He thought to himself, “If only I could become a bird, then I could let them know that I’m just trying to help them.” At that moment he realized what the pastor had been trying to say to him all along. God became a man so He could tell us how to be saved. Morals begin when we realize what God wants to do for us. Morals aren’t the beginning, but the result of the change we get when we come to Jesus. Are you ready to change? Want to get your morals right? Then it must begin with your life becoming His.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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