Text- Galatians 1:10 – "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ”
We read in Acts chapter 4, that there was a time that government authorities put Peter and John in jail because they healed a lame man. Upon releasing them, they were warned never to speak or teach in Jesus’ name anymore.
Peter and John didn’t give a bulge to the authorities’ demand. See how they replied in Acts 4:19-20:
“Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard”
What we just saw is a clear picture of conviction. If Peter and John had their conviction from the laws of the land, that would have been the end of their preaching ministry, but they said, “We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard”
Peter further said in 2 Peter 1:16, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
These things that the Apostles both saw and heard have been recorded for us in scriptures, and should form the basis of our own convictions too. Except we are fully convinced by the Word, we will not be able to hold fast till the end.
Thus far, we have observed that some people erroneously take their convictions from law, science, civility, support groups and current trends. Today, we will consider one last place where people erroneously take their convictions from
6. SOCIETAL STANDARDS
Societal standards are basically the rules of behavior that are considered to be acceptable to live in a society. They differ from the law in the sense that societal standards are more of unwritten codes of conduct that are considered to be socially acceptable.
Take for instance, until 1987, homosexuality was considered to be a sort of mental disorder, and it was not an acceptable thing at all in the society. Fast-forward to 2018, Facebook now has over 70 gender options to choose from when filling up a personal profile.
So by societal standards, there are now over 70 genders, but by Biblical standards, there are only two… “Male and female created he them” (Genesis 5:2)
Gay marriage is now gradually becoming acceptable in the society, so if societal standards were your reasons for not having homosexual relationships, that resolve will soon fail.
Any form of Christian practice that seeks to keep up with societal standards is dead on arrival. True Christianity can only be effectively practiced when our convictions are drawn from the word of God.
As believers, our actions should be guided by this, “God's word says so, and I want to live a life that pleases Him”
PRAYER
Lord, if there is any area of my life where my convictions are wrong, help me to realign today so that in the face of trials and temptations, my resolve to serve and to please you will not fail.
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