An African mother went outside to check on her young son who was playing under a tree. She was shocked to see a large poisonous snake hanging from the tree just over her son’s head. The snake seemed about to bite the boy. The mother knew that if she tried to warn her son he would look up instead of moving away quickly. Instead of explaining, she called to him, “Son, drop down low to the ground right now.” The boy was puzzled, but because he was taught to obey, he did so. Then his mother said, “Stay low and crawl to me.” Again, he obeyed and was soon safely away from the snake.
Why did the boy obey without understanding the reason for the command? He respected his mother because he had been taught to obey already, and he had been corrected when he disobeyed. He also trusted his mother because he knew his mother loved him. We should obey God completely, not only because we fear his correction but because we know he loves us.
The Motivation of Love
► What would be some results if a person loved God more? You could consider the question by finishing this statement: “If I loved God more, I would...”
One result of loving God more is described in Philippians 1:9-11:
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
These verses talk about an ongoing process in the believer’s life. His love should be continually increasing. As his love for God grows, his ability to discern what is best is strengthened and expanded. As he discerns what is best, he adapts his life to focus on what is best. This must be happening in order for a believer to be sincere and without offense.
Just as a newborn baby has a lifetime of learning and growing ahead of him, so we, at the time of our conversion, do not understand all the truth that should guide our lives. In the above verses, Paul wrote to people who had been followers of Christ for some time already. Yet Paul prayed that they would keep loving God more, and by that love be able to better understand and obey God’s will.
We should expect to continually improve our lives as God gives discernment. God wants our complete obedience in all aspects of our lives, not just in religious observance.
We should not assume that we already know everything that we need to know about how to live. We should not assume that we have made all of the adjustments to our lives that are needed.
Some Areas in Which a Believer Should Improve
(1) Carefulness of influence (Proverbs 22:1, Matthew 5:14-16)
Are there things you do that you would not want others to do? Would you be disappointed to see your pastor do the things you do?
Do you control your feelings and desires enough to do what you should, or do you sometimes let your feelings cause you to act in a way that would be expected of an unbeliever?
(3) Care of health (1 Corinthians 6:19, 1 Corinthians 10:31)
Do you care for your body as a set of irreplaceable tools dedicated to work for God? Since your body belongs to God, it should not be damaged. You are not to treat it carelessly.
(4) Choice of entertainment (Colossians 3:17, 1 Corinthians 6:12)
Does your entertainment tend to bring you into struggles with temptation by causing wrong thoughts or attitudes? Beware of anything that presents sin as attractive or funny.
Treat others respectfully, because people are made in the image of God and have eternal destinies. People have customs for showing courtesy. You should learn to be courteous in a way that people recognize. You should be kind even when someone doesn’t deserve it.
(6) Business ethics (Proverbs 20:23)
Are you completely honest in all dealings? Do you describe things exactly as they are or cause someone to think something that is not true?
(7) Punctuality (Galatians 5:14)
Time is a valuable resource that we should use for God. Do you put value on your time and others’ time by keeping a schedule when possible?
(8) Dress (1 Timothy 2:9, 1 Peter 3:3-4)
Does your clothing show these values?
Decency - concealing the body sufficiently
Humility - not trying to attract undue attention or admiration by what you wear
Thriftiness - not buying more expensive clothes than you need
(9) Language (Colossians 4:6, Ephesians 4:29)
Is your conversation pure and respectful of God and others? Many of the words the world uses as exclamations come from obscenities or terms for God.
Do you keep commitments? Can people expect you to do what you say? Do you forget your promises if they are not convenient?
Many people don’t take seriously their need to improve. They feel responsible only for the plain commands of scripture, not realizing that those commands have many applications.
We need to realize that improvement is linked to the increase of our love for God. We need to seriously meditate on the verses we started with in this lesson (Philippians 1:9-11). If our love is increasing, our discernment and choice of right behaviors should be improving.
For Group Sharing
► What is an example of a change that you made in your life when God showed you that an attitude, habit, or action was not the best?
► Is there something in your lifestyle that you know you should change? Will you do it?
► Are you doing anything that you are not sure pleases God?
► Are you willing to let God show you in prayer any changes that you should make?
Let’s commit to pray this week with an open heart so that God can show us His values and any changes He wants to make in our lives. Will you commit to do that? Next week I will ask you if you did.
Personal Application of Biblical Principles
► Have you ever noticed differences among believers, especially in practical questions of what they do and what they don’t do? Why are there these differences, when they use the same Bible? Since there are so many differences among believers, does it really matter what we do? Why?
Not all believers agree on the details of how to live out biblical principles and values. Yet a follower of Christ must be serious about living consistent with what he believes.
Behavior, choices of entertainment, and clothing all show something about the inclinations of the heart.
Here are some principles that every believer should remember as he tries to discern what is best in specific lifestyle issues.
Principles for Lifestyle Decisions
(1) We must obey all of the Bible’s commands to believers.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:19,
Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
We cannot simply choose the points that we think are most important. No scriptural command is unimportant enough to ignore.
(2) God’s commands are for our benefit.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13,
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?
Psalm 84:11,
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
God does not keep from us something that is good, nor command something that is harmful for us. We would not be better off without His restrictions. To reject His directions is to doubt His wisdom and love. We prove that we truly have faith in God’s goodness and wisdom when we obey the instructions of His Word instead of following human ideas.
(3) Christian freedom is not freedom from obeying God.
Paul wrote this to believers in 1 Corinthians 9:21:
To those outside the law [of Moses] I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.
We are delivered from the law—both the Law of Moses and God’s moral requirements—as a means of justification, because we are saved by grace and not by fulfilling God’s commands. We are also delivered from the condemnation of the law, because the sins we committed are forgiven.
However, we are not freed from the requirement of obeying God or from the obligation to love, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). As 1 Corinthians 9:21 (above) shows, we are under God’s authority. His will for us is revealed in the Bible.
Some people wrongly believe that they must keep God’s laws as a means of receiving forgiveness for sins, or as a means of maturing spiritually. The truth is that we are saved by grace through faith, not by keeping the law (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Though we are not justified as a result of what we do, we should obey God in all of life’s details because we have been made right with him. “Having been set free from sin, [you] have become slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:18).
Because we love God and are grateful for his grace, we gladly obey him (1 John 5:3). The obedience of those who are justified is evidence of love for him (John 14:15).
(4) If we love God we want to know his will, not avoid it.
1 John 5:2-3 says
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Jeremiah 31:33 says, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel… I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.”
A person who loves God will not first ask, “Will God condemn me for doing this?” but, “What would God be most pleased with?” or, “What is the most excellent thing?” (Philippians 1:10, Titus 3:8).
(5) Scripture gives a basis for establishing specific rules for our lives.
The Bible does not give only general principles. Some passages are listed in Assignment 2 that provide a basis for careful Christian living. Some of them give specific directions for the Christian lifestyle.
(6) Rules about details of life are not our most important beliefs.
The Pharisees made the mistake of putting the most emphasis on minor things. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said to them
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
This verse does not say that there is any truth that doesn’t matter, but it says that some things matter more than others. We should be more concerned about the most important things.
(7) Keeping rules is not enough to prove our obedience or love for God.
In the same discussion with the Pharisees Jesus said (Matthew 23:25),
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
A person may live a very strict lifestyle yet not love God or even be obeying him completely. On the other hand, a person may love God with his whole heart and yet not see the reason for some standards. Therefore, the stricter person is not necessarily more spiritual.
(8) Our confidence in the testimony of others does not depend on the small details of their lifestyle.
In Romans 14:10 Paul asked believers
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
This verse comes in a passage discussing the different views believers have on practical issues. There are often sincere disagreements about what a follower of Christ should and shouldn’t do.
Another believer may not agree with our interpretation of a particular scripture passage, or he may not see the harmfulness of something we have rejected. It may be that God is working on different aspects of his life, or that God has placed him in a different cultural context. That doesn’t mean that the person is not a true believer.
► What do you think of this statement? “God will show everyone the truth about how he should live; therefore, all believers should have the same practices.”
Christ’s followers have never had agreement about all the practices of life. People who love God and live godly lives do not all agree about practices and details of doctrine. It is wrong for us to say that others are not believers because they interpret or apply scriptures differently. We may accept them as sincere believers though we think their opinions are wrong. The work of the Holy Spirit does not cause all believers to have an identical lifestyle.
We must also be ready to learn from the perspectives of other believers. Pride causes me to think that I always interpret or apply scripture perfectly. But a humble, teachable, accepting spirit cultivates Christian unity and edifies the body of Christ.
(9) Tolerance of diverse opinions does not excuse personal carelessness.
“Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” (Romans 14:5b).
“But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).
Disastrous results will follow when one violates his conscience. If a person decides to do something that he thinks is wrong, he is guilty of sin. There are blessings when one walks in the light God has given him (1 John 1:7).
For Group Sharing
There will be no difficulty in starting discussion on this topic. Some students may emphasize the need for churches to require rules of behavior. Others may emphasize tolerance of differences.
Try to get fair consideration for each of the nine principles listed above.
► Which of these principles do you think many people forget?
► Which of these principles are you most likely to forget?
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
I want my love for you to continually increase. I want to better understand your will for me.
Help me to learn to discern what is most pleasing to you so that I can live a life that is pure and without offense.
Help me to see habits and attitudes that need to change, and to gain habits and attitudes that glorify you.
I want to bear fruit for the glory of God.
Amen
Lesson 2 Assignments
(1) Study 1 Corinthians 13. This chapter describes the life of a person who has the love that he should have for others. Let God show you how He wants to change you to make your life more consistent with love. List some changes you would like God to enable you to make in your own life.
(2) Study the following scriptures that provide a basis for careful Christian behavior:
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
1 Corinthians 10:31
1 Corinthians 11:14-15
1 Timothy 2:9-10
1 Peter 3:3-4
Psalm 19:14
Psalm 101:3
Write the basic meaning of each passage. Describe details of lifestyle that you believe you should practice because of those scriptures.
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