Give Up Your Values

// Filed in: Grace

Focusing on a right/wrong system will inevitably turn up some “wrongs”.
We mentally put that in the “wrong” column. Most people will begin to feel
guilty over this. They will even begin to focus more on their guilt than the larger
column of “good”. At some point, they will simply abandon this system OR they will
become so crusty and self-righteous, twisting the rules to fit their behavior—which will now be defined as right!

This person’s joy has successfully been robbed. They are trapped in self-analysis.

Aim to simply abide in Christ. Issues of right and wrong become incidental. As we abide in Christ, He is expressed through us. Take your eyes off yourself and place your full attention on Christ.

An obsession with right and wrong emphasizes human values instead of godly virtues.

Values are the structure of a belief system. People build a lifestyle on it. Legalists emphasize having the right values. They argue that wrong values lead to a wrong lifestyle. (Hard to dispute) This approach to life doesn’t require any divine involvement because it is behavior oriented not divine oriented.

Living righteously is an outcome of Christ expressing His divine virtues through us.

An obsession with right and wrong stresses law instead of life.

The criterion of right and wrong is grounded in God’s law. It is through this we understand what is right or wrong.

Romans 7:7-8
7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.

People whose life is built around an obsession with right and wrong will forever be frustrated. They see what they should do, but they find they cannot effect the changes in their life that the law reveals.

Good News! We have been set free from the Law.

Romans 7:6
6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

Am I saying that we have no rules to obey and that we can do whatever we want? And we will still be saved and even have a good life? No. May it never be!

I am saying focus on Christ living His life through us and the righteous behavior will take care of itself. Isn’t that much simpler? Try it. It is the only thing that will keep a Christian from sinning.

Like this article? It was adapted from "Grace Walk: What You've Always Wanted in The Christian Life by Steve McVey.

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