The Laws of God’s Love
God gave us rules to follow so that we can all enjoy living peaceful, healthy, prosperous lives alongside one another that is pleasing to God. This type of living cannot be achieved by mere human intuition alone, we must allow God to guide us.
Many people today don’t care what God thinks and therefore ignore these rules because they feel they can’t be bothered with such restrictions. In the Bible, these people are considered to be part of the “wicked generation” that in the end times, has rejected God.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to be different than the world. And that is not an easy task because it requires a lot of self-discipline and help from God. The Bible calls Christians “the salt of the earth”. Salt, which is used for preserving food so that it does not go bad and decompose, is symbolic of how true Christians (or followers of Christ), keep the world from going bad because they love God enough to follow His rules even if it means denying themselves and their earthy impulses.
Then Jesus said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
Spoiler alert, because you are human, you will not be able to obey all of these rules perfectly throughout your life, but God expects us to try our best. This is why Father God sent Jesus to us, so that when we do fall short and make mistakes, we can ask Jesus for forgiveness, and we will be forgiven in the eyes of God. Otherwise God will consider it a sin.
God knows the condition of your heart, and He wants to know that you are truly trying your best to live according to His laws, and He wants to know that you are genuinely sorry when you mess up.
God looks at us the same way a loving Father looks at His children, He loves us unconditionally, and because He loves us He wants to teach us how to live a good life. Like a loving Father He is going to correct us when mess up, and if we’re genuinely sorry when we fall and make mistakes, He is eager to forgive us, and encourages us to get right back up and try again.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
The Ten Commandments are also referred to the Law of Moses.
- You shall have no other Gods before me
This could be things like money or false Gods besides the one true living God; Father God, the Creator of all things. - You shall not make idols
Do not worship anything except God. This could be things like man-made statues, new age things like crystals and sage, money, fame, fortune, career success, celebrities, spouses, even children. Material possessions, our phones, social media, different types of addictions, sex etc. God must come first before all these things. - You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain
Don’t use Father God’s name and Jesus’ name as a curse word. It’s highly disrespectful. And yes, that includes saying “OMG”. - Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy
Spend time on Sunday (or Friday eve – Saturday eve if you are Jewish) resting, relaxing, and spending time with God. Go to church, read your Bible, and pray more than you usually do that day. - Honor your Father and Mother
Don’t be disrespectful to your parents. Listen to them. Help them. Love them. - You shall not murder
Do not kill anyone. Also, do not kill a person by slandering their reputation by gossiping about them. Jesus also said that whoever hates their brother and has anger towards them in their heart is a murderer. - You shall not commit adultery
Do not cheat on your husband/ wife. Divorcing your spouse, except if they have cheated on you, is also considered adultery. - You shall not steal
Do not take what is not yours. Even the smallest most insignificant thing. Return everything you borrow. - You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“Your neighbor” means all people. This means, do not tell lies, for it will create a web of confusion that will harm others, and yourself. Trust is broken, and reputations are tarnished, when you lie. - You shall not covet.
Do not be jealous, and do not desire what someone else has. Be happy with what God has given you.
SEVEN DEADY SINS
Do all you can to avoid these negative behaviors in your life.
- Lust
- Gluttony
- Pride
- Sloth
- Wrath/ Anger
- Greed
- Envy
FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT
Do all you can to embrace and nurture these loving attributes in your own life.
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Faithfulness
- Gentleness
- Self-Control
God also warns us to avoid sexual immorality, which is touched upon in the Ten Commandments when adultery is discussed, but He also warns us to avoid other types of sexual sin such as watching porn, having sex before marriage, homosexuality, orgies, beastilaity (sex with animals), cross-dressing and more.
Right before Jesus died on the cross, he said: “A new command I give you, love one another as I have loved you, so you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”. John 13:34-35
The world we live in today thinks that in order to love others, you need to accept and support whatever it is they feel like doing in their lives, but that’s not true. Sometimes if you love someone, you need to gently educate them about what the Word of God says because perhaps they don’t know. God gave us rules to follow because He wants all of humanity to experience living the best life possible together, where we do the least harm possible to ourselves and to others.
God can see the bigger picture of how, over time, these types of things negatively affect humanity as a whole. As a follower of Jesus, and lover of God, we are to do our best to trust God, and obey His teachings, much how a respectful child would obey His Father’s teachings. That is how we show God that we love Him. As a reminder, we are tasked to love the sinner, but hate the sin. There is a HUGE difference between the two!
We are ALL sinners and we ALL fall short of perfection. The only one who never sinned was Jesus, and that is because He was born of a virgin and the Holy Spirt (not the seed of fallen human man). Perfection is impossible for humans. This concept goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden when humans first disobeyed God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. From that point on, a curse was put on humanity that makes it really difficult for us to resist the urges of the flesh and not sin… which again is why Father God sent Jesus to us for the forgiveness of our sins. The forgiveness of Jesus is an absolute GIFT, and it’s yours for the taking if you choose to accept it.
In Matthew 7:4, Jesus actually warns us not to judge others before we take a good hard look at our own selves. It’s important to remember that when we point a finger at someone else, there are three more fingers pointing right back at ourselves. So it’s a delicate dance of wanting to gently correct and educate others because you love them and don’t want them to go to Hell when they die vs. an aggressive “you’re a bad person” type of approach. One is done with the spirit of love, the other is done with the spirit of hate and there is a big difference. Make sure your heart is in the right place before correcting others. It must be done in love with concern for their eternal soul.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body, and nourishment to your bones. Proverbs 3:5-8
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts”. Isaiah 55:9
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