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NOT ALWAYS EASY

In a recent experience, I have found that there is not always an easy answer to every part of living life and living life as a Christian. Christianity is a religion of love. But you can take love to an unhealthy extreme. We can love to a point of opening ourselves up to error and abuse that not only hurts you but also the ones around you, Matthew 10:16. God never has asked us to put our brains in neutral and not use sound reasoning and judgment in living life and making tough decisions.  We are asked to "test the spirits" 1 John 4:1 and discern between truth and falsehood 1 John 4:6 which takes using our minds.

I have heard and read that every answer to life is in the Holy Bible but I do not see how to change the oil in my truck in the Holy Bible! Please understand that God has given us what we need to know how to receive salvation and live in harmony with God and man in this fallen world in His Word. But God has given us a mind and I know He expects us to use it and learn and grow using our free will and reasoning. I believe sometimes God expects us to fill-in the blanks and many times the answer is neither right or wrong. Yes, I believe there are many absolute truths in this world and life but then there are some subjective answers to living our life, and no they are not easy!

We should be working on having a Christ-like mind which is loving toward all but tough in discernment and fearless in the face of making a judgment call, 1 Corinthians 2:14-16. Understand that "judging all things" has nothing to do with us damning others to hell, but with recognizing and doing what God would want us to do in living our life at our best to bring glory to God since he will be the final Judge of everyone, 2 Corinthians 5:10.

We use the term "tough love" nowadays because sometimes the welfare of another is not best served in giving or doing what they want of us. An example of this would be buying more booze for the alcoholic or putting the needle into the arm of the heroin user. Love sometimes must act in a disciplinary way in order to bring about, if it is possible, the best welfare for the loved one. We see this in courtrooms where sometimes depending on the circumstances the Judge shows mercy and sometimes the Judge must not show mercy to help correct the behavior and thinking of a person gone astray.

Finally, when it comes to making choices and decisions in life, God calls us to use clear reasoning from thinking about what we have learned from the Holy Bible, life experiences and sound counsel from trusted others. Our Lord has made us thinking, discerning, analytical human creatures who must take responsibility for working our way through life on earth as a Christian in line with God's will for our life.

When it comes to making a tough decision or choice God expects us to learn all we can about the situation, relationship, the responsibility involved, and opportunity or lack thereof and pray (John 16:13) then weigh it all in the light of God's instructions and ethics, and then act accordingly. As we take action in our decision, we can take comfort that God is at work within us, Philippians 2:13.

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