Our pastor gave a sermon yesterday about how one should live. He made the point that many Christ followers simply do not know how they should live due to their never opening a Bible. He maintained that it would be impossible to know how we should live without actually reading and studying His word (the Bible). He mentioned that our bodies are in reality temples of God inhabited by the Holy Spirit. I believe that He is our conscience and it is to warn us about bad behavior. Some seem to think this is innate, but I am of the opinion that God is reaching out to us and trying to modify our behavior through the Holy Spirit.
My Bible study partner mentioned that he did not understand how anyone could burn their child alive like Judah’s king Manasseh did to his child. What stops all but the most depraved from doing something as heinous that? Normal people just seem to know that it is depraved and immoral. The same goes for adultery, watching porn, murder, stealing, lying, and so on. If someone can do these things without feeling guilty about it then we know that the Holy Spirit does not inhabit them.
I urge you to read and study the Bible. The closer we can come to following God’s commands the better. We cannot follow commands without knowing what they are. God gives us an owners manual telling us exactly how we should act in every situation. Every word in the Bible goes towards that effort with one exception, God points out what will happen to us if we do not live a righteous life and continue to sin. There are consequences for sin. He loves us so much He doesn’t desire for anyone to perish, but we must choose to do what is right in His eyes.
Everyone sins but everyone does not go overboard with it and some sinners feel genuinely bad about it. The consequences of sin can be brutal even devastating. Sinning is like throwing a rock at a mirror. It will shatter upon impact just like it will shatter lives. If you make a mistake and genuinely feel bad about it (depending upon what sin it is) God will forgive you if you truly repent for it. Just remember that. Better to ask for forgiveness than simply ignore it and even keep repeating it day after day.
1 John 1:9
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.