Good Boundaries Make Good People

“By this, the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son in to the world so that we might live through Him.” –1 John 4: 9

I read a truly awful news story  this morning on the sex trafficking of young children. We all know it goes on but it’s always shocking to me to hear the stories.  Just horrific stuff as you can imagine, of how sick and twisted minds indulge in their most deviant fantasies with the click of a mouse.

Shortly after that I went to my little neighborhood church where the pastor gave an inspiring message on why Jesus came in to the world.  Yes, He came to die on the cross and save us from sin, bring light, preach the gospel, etc…but He was sent do this by God the Father and Jesus’s purpose was to glorify Him through obedience.  It was this act of perfect obedience by Jesus that allowed God’s will to be done and continues to allow His plan to manifest.

This all got me thinking that so much of what’s wrong in the world is due to lack of boundaries and disobedience; or better yet, people who think such things don’t apply to them.  There is evil yes, but it’s only filling up the vacuum left by our decaying cultural values and increasing embrace of moral relevancy, where truth sprouts from whatever makes a person feel good.

Sex perverts ordering children on line like take out food, mass shootings of innocent concert goers.  Corrupt politicians daily lying to our faces; even worse is that they know we know they’re lying.  A movie industry that thrives on the exploitation of young women now hypocritically eating one of it’s own over sexual assault charges, white supremacists marching in the streets, black supremacists tearing down historical statues, the lunatic college campus Marxists and their violent intolerance, the list goes on.

Chaos reigns in our environment, but that’s merely a topical symptom. It’s the outward showing of warped inner hearts turned dark by denying God and His instructions on how to live.

This is certainly nothing new for God, as His people throughout time have turned their backs on Him only to do an about face when things get rough. It’s happened so much, I often wonder why He hasn’t just pulled the plug on this whole human race experiment.

Yet, sitting there in church today I felt very comforted by the message of Jesus’s obedience, for it speaks to a larger plan unfolding beyond the muck of every day events. Things that we too have roles to play in through our own obedience and purpose.

It can be so easy to get caught up in the negativity and fear our culture thrives on, it can even get addicting and become part of your identity.  Instead of participating in the mudslinging however or checking out all together, how about pausing and just asking God if there is anything He wants you to do about it?  You might be surprised at the answer.

“The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned”-Matthew 4:16