“The world is falling apart.”
Every generation says it. And standards of morality do decline.
The difference is the edge of morality is pushed farther with every generation.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we, as one individual, or as a group, could reverse moral decay?
Stress and anxiety are on the rise. Tough times overwhelm everyone. Not one person escapes.
Not only are we facing the normal moral decay every generation faces but are trying to cope with additional changes from the result of Covid. Businesses have altered how they operate.
* scarce products
* constantly changing hours of operation
* fewer employees
* increased work-at-home
* some products only available online that used to live on store shelves
* fewer selections on menus
* prices raising through the roofs
We can’t alter the way businesses operate unless management is our occupation. We can’t influence policies made by politicians.
We can pray and should. But there is one powerful action that reverses moral decay, lightening our stress to a large degree.
The Problem with Moral Decay
Witnessing moral decay instantly brings fear for our children and our country. Our automatic reaction can easily be to hide and to avoid.
It develops a strong dislike and divides us from the very people God commanded us to witness to in Matthew.
If a business owner in a city, we may fear becoming a victim of a riot provoked by hate crimes.
As Christians we should have some fear. The quote, “United we stand, divided we fall” is attributed to the Greek storyteller Aesop from his fable Four Oxen and the Lion, and holds a well of truth.
When united we can accomplish much. Division only destroys.
Division comes from Satan himself and causes hatred towards humanity.
Hatred breeds hate crimes, and those have definitely been rising over the past few years. Everyone is under attack as a group by someone at some point in time or another.
Why People Hate
Families are falling apart from the core outward, like a flower blossoming, leaving hurt people on the outer edge in more ways than one.
Have you ever wondered why? From pastoring, I observed several reasons for hate:
* abuse of all kinds from parents
* absentee parents
* feelings of abandonment
* not knowing any different from growing up in a dysfunctional home
* victims of crimes committed by outsiders
The bottom line is these hurting people have not seen, felt, or received love. Mankind has let them down and they are angry and searching for a belonging they’ve never experienced.
Misery loves company and feeling unloved sometimes causes self-centeredness to rise to cover up insecurity. They believe they are the only one they can rely on or trust.
It’s no wonder the attitude of “It’s all about me” reigns from sea to sea, and narcissism is taking over America.
The Remedy
God’s love can remedy it all.
That makes sense since hate comes from Satan and is the opposite of hate. Hate is the absence of love. Sounds like us Christians have a lot of work to do.
Love is an action powerful enough to reverse the moral decay we are witnessing at such a rapid rate.
Currently in America, our actions are based upon our feelings, emotions, and desire to be famous for picking our nose in front of a million viewers, instead of what is right. Common sense isn’t so common anymore.
Loving others is the right thing. God loved us enough to send His only Son to die for our sins. How much more should we love Him by loving mankind created by Him?
We can’t do it ourselves, but God can help us develop the character trait of love.
What God Says About Love
The Bible tells us to love our enemies. Why do you think it does?
Loving our enemies shows to unbelievers God is real. It displays the fact He is the One True God.
Christianity is the only religion in the world based upon unconditional love.
Imagine if you had committed a crime and the victim came to you and let you know they forgave you. Powerful. The criminal notices a big difference, especially when told they are loved by the victim and God. Interest is sparked.
It’s no wonder. Other religions are based upon good works, power, or peace, but not love.
Love is the foundation of Christianity. In fact, it is the most important commandment given.
Mark 12:30-31 NLT
How much do you love God?
We can’t love others until we have loved God first. When we show God love from the depths of our hearts, He returns it like a waterfall for us to use to love others.
God tells us to love others as we love ourselves.
Sounds easy, right? Aren’t we self-centered anyway? Don’t we want what we want when we want it?
Okay, maybe not everyone or not all the time, but you get the idea.
I wanted to exaggerate because when you get down to it, we don’t really love ourselves. Insecurity fills our being to the brim. If we loved ourselves, we would take better care of our physical health.
That brings up the question, how do we love others if we can’t love ourselves the right way?
God’s Love
God is sacrificial, yet just.
Christians tend to go to one extreme or another. We either don’t love and blast out hatred comments all over Facebook, or we live our Christian lives in our own circle of friends like high school clicks – never knowing a world exists outside our church walls.
The good thing is we can choose to change. We CAN learn to love God more, ourselves better, and others in a powerful way.
Develop the character trait of love by following 1 Cor. 13:4-8.
Love is:
* Patient
* Kind
* not jealous, boastful proud, or rude
* not irritable
* not glad about injustice, but rejoices when truth wins out
* always hopeful
Love does not:
* demand its own way
* keep track of wrong doing
* ever give up
* ever lose faith
Love endures through every circumstance!
WOW! I don’t know about you, but when teaching a Bible-study on this at our church once, I wrote each one of these on an index card. I passed them out and had each one read it so we could slow down enough to think upon these traits. Their reactions when reading was like a student taking a test, even though I told them to read only.
This activity raised our awareness. Not only did we see actions we need to improve on, but we saw how love gives hope and perseverance to get through every circumstance.
Isn’t that worth striving for?
It pleases God, helps us, and witnesses to others. That is what I call a WIN-WIN situation!
Choosing Love
Learning to love the way we just read takes time and practice but starts with a choice to do so.
Offenses are the biggest triggers making us want to quit trying, or worse, hate.
Instead of letting bitterness and hate swell up in our lives when we’ve been offended, we must rise above our emotions and do the right thing, according to the Bible. That is, we need to see our offenders as Christ sees them . . . sinners in need of salvation. Pray for them, and give grace and lead them to the Lord, if possible.
No one asks you to be best friends. We can forgive, but forgetting doesn’t always dissipate quickly. Even so, we can use common sense.
Enemies aren’t the only ones who offend us – brothers and sisters in Christ or your family does also. At these times, focus on the fact we each have to work out our own salvation. Chances are they don’t even know they offended you. It might just be they’re comfortable enough around you to let their guard down or not worry about how they come across. Nonetheless, you can pray for them to surrender their hurts to the Lord.
If you want to develop the character trait of love in your life and change your focus by looking at offenders as Christ sees them, take these action steps.
5 Action Steps:
- For 30 days, read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. One catch. Substitute your name where the word love is. It will definitely change your focus.
- Write each word listed in these verses down similar to mine, except add an example of your own.
- Choose one trait, like patience, and focus on doing it for one week at a time.
- Listen closely to your words. When you hear yourself say, “I want . . .” immediately change your thought to recall something someone else wants. Write it down in a journal. Increasing your awareness can go a long way.
- Plan a kind deed to do for someone else every day. It doesn’t have to be large but is good practice at putting others first. Forcing yourself to think, then act, is building a new habit.
Look people in the eye, give them a smile, let them go first, and forgive when needed. This takes lots of practice and all that is within us. We have to rely on God’s strength and see individuals through His eyes.
Remember, you can choose love to reverse the moral decay in our world! God be with you as you grow in His love.
© 2023, Jena Fellers. All rights reserved.
Leave a Reply