Jaime Hlavin joins the blog again today, writing on the subject of how to behave while our world is falling off the moral cliff. This post is timely, practical, and challenging, all at the same time. Enjoy ~ John.

It doesn’t take much to realize that we live in a culture that has been in rapid moral decline for a very long time. The normalization of depraved behavior is only a swipe, tap, or click away. We are surrounded by people immersed in lives of sin.

According to Galatians 5:19-21, “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.”

(What I appreciate about that particular passage of scripture is that it doesn’t just include the “big ugly sins.” The less “offensive,” insidious sins of hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy are sandwiched right between the biggies.)

In an effort to live holy lives, it’s easy to want to go to one of two extremes: 1. Circle the wagons and live a life of complete solitude far from the evils of this world. 2. Step up on a soapbox in the town square (or on Facebook) and loudly decry all the evils and all the sinners.

However, as Christians we are called to live in on this Earth during our appointed time and to go unto the ends of it and make as many disciples as possible! So, neither of the two aforementioned options really fall into that mandate. As believers, how are we to behave in the midst of the dark and tumultuous times in which we live?

In the Old Testament, when God gave Moses the 10 Commandments, notice that the first few focused on the Israelites’ relationship with Him:

1. Don’t have any other gods but Him

2. Don’t worship idols

3. Don’t misuse His name

4. Honor Him on the Sabbath (the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. Exodus 20:10).

The rest of the Commandments focus on the relationships with the people they interacted with on a daily basis—the world in which they lived:

5. Honor your parents

6. Don’t kill one another

7. Don’t dishonor one another by committing adultery (participating in sexual sin)

8. Don’t steal each other’s stuff

9. Don’t lie about or to each other – this erodes relationships

10. Do not be jealous of each other’s stuff or successes.

So, basically, God told the Israelites to love God well and love people well. I’ll even take it a step further: If we love God well, we’ll be able to love people beyond our human capacity.

I know . . . that’s all well and good for the Old Testament. But you want to hear what Jesus said, right? Well, he echoed this exactly when he said that “all of the law and the prophets” can be summed up by Deuteronomy’s encapsulation of these two commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39 (The Gospel of Mark adds that we need to add all of our strength to the list of ways we love God).

Again, love God well and love people well. It’s not an either/or situation. We must do both to navigate this sin-sick world. When we are walking victoriously in these two areas, behaving in a way that exemplifies Christlikeness should be the result. But let’s be honest, sometimes it’s hard to do both simultaneously.

When I feel like I’m struggling to love God well or people well, I look back at those two scriptures in Matthew and Mark in an effort to pinpoint where the problem lies. Is it my heart? Is it my soul? Mind? Strength? Where am I falling short in loving God well? And where am I falling short in loving others well?

Meditate on scripture pertaining to our hearts, souls, minds and strength. A search in your Bible software or app can really help with this. But a few of my favorites have to do with the mind. Is my mind messed up and causing me to sin against God or others? (And really look into what God calls sin—the Bible is clear about that.)

Then I meditate on Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (The great thing about this verse is that is has some “strength” stuff in there, too: “Whatever you have learned . . . put into practice.”)

Romans 12:2 tells us, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

The key to loving others well is that part about loving them “as yourself.” Think about the way you act toward or think about those whose act or think differently than you? Would you say, think, believe, or do those things if that was you? For example, someone is participating in a particularly heinous lifestyle that offends me and I make an extremely inflammatory statement about that person. Would I ever say the same thing about a sin or action in my own life?

Loving God well and loving others well are the two key factors that motivate us to live above the fray of a morally declining culture because the Bible tells us that it’s only going to continue to get worse. As society circles the drain, it’s crucial that Christians live in a way that reflects Christ, especially in our personal lives and as we lead our churches and ministries. At Converge Coaching, it’s our prayer that each of us love God and others with excellence.

We’re rooting and praying for you!

Jaime