Cryptomynd

I WISH someone had explained this to me when I was younger Christian. Every commandment in the Bible and everything it calls a *sin* is actually a *warning* from God not to hurt yourself. In other words, as it has been said before… When God says DON’T, what He's really saying is: DON’T hurt yourself. Let me give you several examples. Sex before marriage - It is a scientific fact that sex creates a neurochemical bond with another person, not just physically but emotionally. In other words, sex is not just the union of two bodies, but of two souls. So when God says DON’T, he’s saying: you don’t want to be bonded like that to somebody you barely know. Lying - When you lie, you eventually destroy the trust other people have in you. And the problem with lying is that one lie often requires another to cover it up, until eventually, you've built an entire life around pretending to be someone you're not. Envy - Envy is resenting God’s goodness in someone else’s life while ignoring God’s goodness in your life. Instead of living a life of gratitude and joy, you live one of bitterness and anger. Pride - Pride makes a person care more about BEING right… than making a relationship RIGHT. And you become incapable of learning, apologizing, or growing. Gossip - Gossip destroys relationships… and if someone is gossiping TO YOU about other people, chances are they're also gossiping ABOUT YOU to other people behind your back. Unforgiveness - This one is tough because you’re already hurt with something. But when you refuse to forgive, unforgiveness makes YOU a prisoner of your past, and a slave to bitterness, resentment, and pain. God says “don’t.” Greed - Greed makes you believe a lie that if you only had “more” then you’d be happy. Not true. You’ll be miserable. Lust - We live a culture saturated with lust. It always destroys your ability to experience true intimacy with another person. This is why our culture is terrible at marriage, intimacy, and relationships. Here’s the point. Deuteronomy 10:12 (NIV) says “Observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today … for your own good." When God forbids something, it’s not because he hates you and he’s trying to rob something from you. It’s because he loves you and he’s trying to protect you. When He says DON’T, He's not trying to keep you from enjoying life. He's teaching you how to truly live it.

There’s a hidden lesson behind the disciple who told Jesus “Lord, [ I will follow you… but ] let me first go and bury my father.” He literally says “Lord… let me FIRST go and bury my father.” Some scholars believe the man wasn’t saying, “My father just died. Let me attend his funeral.” He may have been saying something closer to “Let me fulfill my obligations at home. Let me stay with my father until he dies someday… THEN I’ll follow you.” Ironically, he calls Jesus “Lord” and then he says “but first…” and proceeds to put something else as a priority. And we do this all the time. “Jesus, I’ll obey you… but first let me get my life together.” “Jesus, I’ll forgive them… but first, they need to apologize.” “Jesus, I’ll spend time with you… but first, let me check my phone.” There will ALWAYS be a good reason to postpone obedience… and delayed obedience is still disobedience. If Jesus is truly Lord, He doesn’t come second. He comes first. Your priorities reveal your lordship. What comes *first* shows who comes first.