Good Morals

There is a highly commendable trend that seems to be cropping up in the rhetoric of the people in our nation concerning a return to the values or morals on which our society was established. We nostalgically refer to these values as “good, old-fashioned morals.”  Things like honesty, respect, citizenship, responsibility, etc., have become important to people in the last few years.  But the revival of “good moral character” is not unique to our day.

Such calls to return to good morals were seen throughout our history at times of national crisis.  It is to our credit that we can still remember what “good morals” are, even though we may struggle with defining the terms without the distortion of self-righteousness. However, even with as accurate a listing of “good morals” as we can come up with, or even quoting and displaying the perfection of the Ten Commandments, it does us little good, and may even be more detrimental than we realize.

In real life nothing is static; nothing remains unaltered or unchanged.  The hypocrisy of our society is that we may know what is right, but it is not lived out as it should.  I’m not saying that people don’t try to live according to the “good morals” that they can list; some do a wonderful job at publicizing their strong points while down-playing their weaknesses.  They are like Little Jack Horner who is sitting in the corner because he is obviously being punished for a wrong, but they instead point to some “good thing” about themselves and declare, “What a good boy am I!”

The world is constantly attempting to shape you, your thoughts and your actions into its mold.  It’s a conforming that gives no quarter and applies tremendous pressure, until you are shaped in its image and your “good morals” are distorted. The more honest assessment would be to agree with God;

Romans 3:10

There is none righteous, no not one.

Although this precept is obviously true, it is not meant to let you hide behind the excuse that “nobody’s perfect” and continue to parade around in your covering of “good morals” like the Emperor in his “new clothes.”  Rather it is meant to wake yourself up to the fact that, “I need a different ‘Potter’ shaping the clay of my life and heart. I need freedom – and reverses (redeems) – from the death and hypocrisy of the world’s success at shaping me.”

The word that describes what God wants to do in us is transformation!  Transformation has at its foundation the power of love. The intimate revealing and submitting of the heart in love to Jesus causes a molding of character that begins from the inside out, displaying itself in our actions.  That is what God wants to do in us: to reveal Himself to us intimately, daily, and for us to lay our will down in open and loving submission before Him. Such inward Spirit-initiated transformation will be like the hand of the potter shaping the clay, and it will be able to counteract the injection-molding tendencies of the world.

We will never be able to successfully “raise the morals” of society, or even “return to the morals of our roots.” That just produces a self-righteous list of good deeds which is unable to cover the nakedness of our obvious sin and shortcomings.  If we try we will fail; we will be left in the ebb of the latest dying “trend.”  Only through seeking to know the only One who can save you, guide you, change you and clothe you spiritually can true transformation take place!

How exciting to be His people,

Pastor David Vanderpool