Principle

When I was a young child and in grade school, I was about principle and heard stories about men and women who lived by principle but as I got older and began to see the world through a different set of eyes—the eyes of Christ— then I started to wonder about the idea of principle and what did it really mean.

It can be difficult for a young person in a cold world but it’s even more difficult when that person does not have anything to guide them which is why we need strong families built around morality and ethics. We need parents to teach their children about how to live a live based on principle and to be the men and women that will make this country even greater.

It goes much deeper than simply being a believer in Christ because Satan himself believes in God. He knows what will happen to him so he is out to do whatever he can to stop God’s children but with that said, Satan does not have the power to make us to do this or that but it comes from our will and/or desire and we cannot allow Satan to have that opportunity: “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11).

With that said, none of us are perfect and we are going to slip up and I know this from my own personal experiences as I have slipped up more times than I can count. When we read in Second Corinthians then we learn about how important forgiveness is and if we do not use what we have and what we know such as not giving forgiveness then Satan will use this against us: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

An important lesson that I have learned since joining the ministry is that serving God is about living with principle but in order for us to truly have a strong and lasting relationship with God then we must accept that it’s not just about the individual but it’s a team effort and must include God. We cannot omit God from our lives like many world governments have then when something bad happens, God is then evoked as a sympathetic plea to the people. Instead, we must center our lives around God and desire to do His will: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Because serving God is about surrendering our will to Him then it’s a matter of attitude.

Sadly, attitude is something that so many struggle with especially younger people and this was an issue that I struggled with for a long time and there are times when I catch myself in the need of a little bring me down. That is, I have to remind myself to calm down or back up a bit because that worldly attitude is coming back out. No, I am not advocating that a person must always be smiling and while this would be ideal, life is difficult and it does get the best of us at times but we must do our best to remove ourselves from our emotions and try to do as Christ did while on Earth and this includes not thinking you’re better than other or lashing out at others because they disagree with you but instead, do more and be more by living with principle: “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,” (Hebrews 6:1).