We don’t like to admit it, but we humans are inherently evil. All of us are born selfish and must learn to be good. Don’t believe it? Just legalize the killing of unborn children and see how many of us jump on that bandwagon. Sixty-three million to date in America have chosen this option since the Roe V. Wade supreme court decision. Before 1973 an unborn baby was protected by American law. I wonder if the Supreme Court Justices thought abortion would come to these great numbers when they legalized it. I doubt it. They probably were thinking that such a procedure would be a rare occurrence in the case of extreme poverty, rape, or incest. After all, what stronger bond is there between a mother and her child? But what they failed to remember and what we often forget as well is that we humans are all selfish, sinful creatures. “There is none good,” the Bible tells us, “No not one.” Romans 3:10

What if all murder became legal today? If there were no consequences would it increase? If the history of abortion tells us anything about human nature, it certainly would. And if putting one’s elderly parents to death was legalized, how many children would choose to end their parent’s life? As absurd as this sounds, the Bible tells us that this will be a common practice in the last days. (Matthew 10:21)

Recently, we witnessed what happens in cities where there are no consequences for breaking the law. Felons who are released without bail or before serving their full term, often go out and rob or kill someone else. They’re not always grateful that they were given a second chance and suddenly decide to clean up their act. Their nature is to kill and steal because they’ve never been taught otherwise.

Children who grow up without a father usually exhibit more behavior problems and more often end up in prison. It’s not because of race or economics, as some would suggest, in many cases it’s because they haven’t had a father to teach and model for them the difference between right from wrong and how to live productively in a civilized society.

That nasty sin nature

Yet, before we start feeling self-righteous because we don’t steal or commit murder, we have to admit that we’re all prone to sin. Even as Christ’s followers, we’re always pushing the limits. When the speed limit is 60, we drive 70. When it’s 70, we often drive 80 and sometimes push 95 unless we see a state trooper sitting on the side of the road. And these are just our minor transgressions!

Even the apostle Paul struggled with his sinful nature. He said he often did what he shouldn’t have done and left undone what he should do. Can anyone relate to this? I certainly can!

It’s pretty scary to think about the atrocious acts any of us can commit given the right circumstances and without God intervening in our life.

What can we do?

God has graciously given us laws to help us. Scriptures throughout the Bible, teach us how to keep safe and provide us a way to a life of peace. One of these is in Romans.

The mind covered by the flesh is death, but the mind covered by the spirit is life and peace.

Romans 8:6

Just reading this verse makes me want to relax, take a deep breath and listen to what the Holy Spirit may be speaking to me.

Be Safe/Stay Safe

These have become bywords today. But when we tell someone to stay safe, do we really know how to tell them to do that? There are numerous scriptures regarding peace and safety in the Bible and each of them points to trusting in God and obeying His commands for that peace to occur.

Is God Pro-Choice?

Absolutely! Not in the sense that He thinks it’s perfectly fine for a woman to destroy a growing child inside of her, but that He has given us free will. God created a human race that could choose to love and obey him. We aren’t robots programmed to praise the Lord continually and always make the right decisions to never do anything wrong. It’s a great gift, but with this gift come consequences. Our decisions and our choices matter.

Joshua reminded the Israelites of everything the Lord had done for them through their years in the wilderness, like how He had defeated their enemies. Then he told them, you can choose to worship those other gods if you want, but for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. He wanted to choose the blessings of God for his life and the life of his family. (Joshua 23-24)

Doing the right thing is not always easy and because of our sinful nature, obedience will be a life-long struggle. But the more we learn to trust God we will see that His ways are always for our good. As parents, the rules we impose on our children are never to harm or keep them from enjoying life. They are to keep them safe and help them grow into responsible adults. It’s the same with God’s rules for us.

If you’d like to share some of the consequences of right or wrong choices you’ve made, let us know in the comments below. We can all learn from each other!

But whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Proverbs 1:33