To Submit Is Better Than to Burn

So, where is the writer going with a title like this, you may wonder!?! Well, I initially had one intention and then days went by without my completing the blog and my writing has taken a different direction from my original goal.

Frankly, I also feel that if you are someone with high moral integrity, such as one who closely lives like Christ taught, you may have one viewpoint on what it means to submit than if you simply “go with the flow” as others do.

Romans 13:1 Says “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” So, this would suggest to me that Christ follower or not, people need to get over themselves and their selfish and destructive outbursts that result because of differing opinions.

We all need to respect the governing authorities who are in place from local officials and police to the president and his cabinet members and everything in between. The problem can often begin in the home where parents do not have a solid foundation in the upbringing of their children with high moral authority. If people do not live by high moral guidelines, chances are their children will also be deficient in these areas and so the decline of moral values in our homes and communities perpetuate on and on.

For example, submitting to rules regarding freedom of speech has all too often being misrepresented. It means you can say what you want without repercussion. It does NOT mean you can physically hurt anyone or anything or hinder their ability to live their normal lives. For example, freedom of speech does NOT override a person’s freedom to worship, or have access to their classes in school, or to their home or to a public area where all should be able to go. Freedom of speech should not mean that you can cause another person physical harm in any way.

Those of us who have been hurt by or have hurt others in making choices that do not align with the will of our creator have learned that it is better to submit to his will than to live with the pain and consequences that result when we don’t. I will never claim to be perfect or not make poor decisions in my future. I do know, however, that my heart hurts from pain that I as well as others have experienced due to my choices.

There is another option of “going with the flow” being your “true self”, “doing you”, and “living your best life” that are catch phrases that we have all heard at one time or another. You can do and be all these things, in fact, I think quite well with God’s blessing so long as you do not hurt anyone else in the process. His WILL could very well align with our own if we submit to the simple common-sense teachings that He provides us through the holy scriptures. Now 1 Corinthians 7:9 (ESV) states: “But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than it is to burn with passion.” We should also live by the fruit of the spirit as reviewed in Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV) as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

So, live your life, do as you will… or better yet, do His Will!

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