I am utterly amazed at the way some Christians live their lives.  They must believe that no matter what they do; immorality can be easily forgiven.  Therefore, anything goes and then I can ask God for forgiveness and everything is o.k.  All sin can be forgiven then what’s wrong with telling lies or cheating?  Today’s paper says that one out of forty married individuals in Las Vegas cheat on their spouse.

I Thessalonians 4:1 – 8 – “As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.  For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.  It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before.  For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.  Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.”

Living to please God must be every believer’s priority.  God requires each Christian to turn they lives over to Him.  We are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.  We are told to become sanctified and holy.  Sanctified means to separate ourselves from the world and give ourselves to God.  We are told to prepare ourselves for heaven in the way we live.  The Bible teaches us to let the Holy Spirit take our sinful, self-centered nature, our old habits and behaviors and let them be transformed to emulate the life of Christ.

We may think living a Christian life can be done by accepting the do’s and don’ts taught in the Scripture.  Christianity is about a relationship with God and our willingness to please Him.  It seems many Christians find this hard to do.  One of the strengths of my temperament is loyalty.  This is probably the reason I find it easier to live to please God than those with other temperaments.

I do not believe God is pleased when we deliberately sin.    In the Old Testament people were punished for disobeying God and Paul says we will be in verse 6.  I believe He continues to punish and in most cases it may be deferred until after death now that we live under grace.  If we live like the pagans in the Old Testament who had come out of prostitution, being adulterers or homosexuals, what will happen when we rule with Christ for 1000 years if we live no differently?

We must ask ourselves: Is the way we are living affect our relationship with Christ?  Will it keep us from being given a crown or a higher position in Heaven?  God has called us to live holy lives.  If we live impure lives what happens?  We are told that God gave us the Holy Spirit to help us resist temptation.      If we refuse to live by God’s rules are we not rejecting God?  We are further told that the Holy Spirit gives us self-control and the ability to have control over sinful desires and the ability to practice restraint.

When I was much younger there were many large families.  In some families they had a wayward child that they called their black sheep.  The word came from black wool that could not be dyed and was considered undesirable.  The black sheep of the family was a son or daughter who caused the family sorrow.  In their living they had disgraced the family by their worthlessness or immoral living.  Most children did not want to embarrass the family and subjected themselves to respectable living and authority.  I think there are too many Christians who could be considered God’s black sheep.  They disregard the family and the family’s values.  The problem is: how they live reflect on the entire family.  Consider what you do or say and whether it will please God or not.  If you fail to live a holy life you are rejecting God according to the above Scripture.