Show and Tell

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olderisgood62

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1Timothy
(4:11) These things command and teach.*
(4:12) Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.*
(4:13) Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.*
(4:14) Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.*
(4:15) Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.*
(4:16) Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Command and teach, what is the best way to do this? By example. This can be a hard thing to do in today's society. Our society, for the most part, wants us to behave in a "good moral way". The problem is they don't want the truth of where the "morals" come from. They prefer to just go with what the general public "feels" is good. By doing this they have taken God out of their daily lives and replaced him with the bare basic thoughts of moral behavior. Practicing a hand me down set of rules. Which over time has become watered down.*
I don't want a basic watered down do good Christianity. I want to "feel" my Christianity. Too feel Gods presence with me through the day. In order to do this I have to keep his rules. Practice these rules throughout my day in everything I do. Keeping my behavior up to his standards at all times.*
Enter the the conflict of interest that has been created by today's society's mindset.*
When we act according to Gods word it is a step above the standards set by society. It will stand out. People will take notice. They will question this "extreme" behavior of doing more than neccesary. Then ask the fateful question where your standard comes from.*
I have been in this position a few times. My usual response to this is a brief moment of prayer, knowing what is most likely to come of this. Because with that little prayer comes the answer, a verse is brought to mind and I share it.*
Suddenly I'm no longer just one of the guys. I'm a "Bible Thumper""Holy Roller""Religious Fanatic" many terms come to mind. When this happens I keep in mind that these are just a trained response stemming from societies moral mediocrity. Comming from the desire of wanting the effect of moral behavior but not the responsibility of doing it right.*
Each time I go through this I remind myself that I am doing what God wants. I'm being a teacher. Showing through action what I have been taught in his word. Showing those around me where their basic concept of right and wrong comes from. Hopefully challenging them to look into why they are behaving the way they are. The seed is planted the rest is up to the Spirit.*
 
Wise words!

C.S. Lewis does a great job in arguing for a Divine Creator behind the moral law in "Mere Christianity".

A booklet called Shepherd's Notes about M.C.:
"...only Christians understand the nature of both kinds of reality [referring to Lewis' teaching]. All of those 'tugs on the heart' with which we were drawn to act against our selfish nature before becoming Christians, only begin to make sense after we have traveled down the road with Christ. Only then can we begin to understand both the reality of moral law and it's Source."

I really like this quote I found in SN :

"a clear conscience is nothing more than a bad memory" :)