Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Chastity and Self Control

Those of you who know me, understand that I should not come at this in a pedantic manor. In fact my lack of self-control hangs over my size 40" belt for all the world to see.

With my fundamentalist background, it is very hard for me to not see things in black and white. Is it sin or not. If it is not sin, it is permissible - lets do it.

There is another line of thought that is of some interest to me. If we cannot control these earthly vessels, which are certainly capable of being controlled, how is the Creator to entrust us with a heavenly body. Similarly if we cannot handle our current financial situation, how are we to be trusted with untold riches. (for more on this point see Matthew 25:14-28)

So if we are to abstain from alcohol, trans-fat, or a wild spending spree, maybe we should do it with the above paragraph in mind. Not because a Pizza, a Rum & coke, or a designer suit are sin.

As always - I'm interested in your thoughts.

1 comment:

Sam said...

Interesting topic in relation to some of the BOB conversation last night. BTW, thank you for getting the point I was trying to throw out there and saying it the way it needed to be said. Anyway...

I have to wonder how often God rolls back in laughter at our sillyness and rule-following. He has to be thinking, "Just love me and the rest will work itself out." But we get so into the rules we see our faces and walk away and forget them. (Like how I slid that in there?) We forget that we have an inner monologue that God put there to help us. Listen to it, follow it, thank Him for it. B/c it works.

The next step is an inward focus on our lives and our stuff. Last week in BOB we talked about really asking God what His will is, and the fact that we rarely do that. I'm not sure I've asked God if He wants me to do the AT. I might not like, no scratch that, I might HATE His answer. Has Sean and his wife asked God about moving to NC? No, they haven't. God grants as He sees fit and He sees fit when we allow Him access to all of our being. I ask God to help me lose weight, and yet I ignore the full feeling He engineered into my body. He's not the one ignoring........... I am.

Great topic.