Rocky Roads

At this point in our lives, the vast majority of us can agree that we can tell the difference between right and wrong.  We can all state with confidence that we can tell the difference between something that is good and something that is bad without much effort, however, a significantly smaller group of us can truthfully state with confidence that they always act on their knowledge. For example, we all know that it is better to eat an apple than a piece of cake, but when presented with the choice, cake tends to win the battle.  We all know that including that girl who does not have many friends is the right thing to do, but when the time comes to invite her into a conversation we tend to turn our backs and choose to ignore her endless attempts to contribute.  We all know that talking about a ‘friend’ of ours behind their backs will eventually damage their reputation, but nevertheless, when we hear stories of her less than angelic behavior, we feel the need to spread them like wildfire. My estimate is that more than 99% of us are guilty of all or some of these omissions of right and that 99.9% of us knew we were doing the wrong thing at the time and chose to do so anyway.

This unfortunate fact can typically be brushed off by convincing ourselves that, ‘hey, I’m only human,’ that ‘I am allowed to make mistakes,’ or that ‘I will try to do better next time.’  But the truth is these excuses for our actions are simply not satisfactory.

As Christians, we are called to always better ourselves and constantly try to live the way God intended.  Although, we are only human, and yes, we are allowed to make mistakes, repeating the same offense day in and day out is not okay.  We cannot go about our day wearing a cross necklace, a saints bracelet, and carrying around a bible in our backpacks, if we are going to constantly and consciously do the wrong things and make choices that are not conducive to a Christian environment.  The occasional slip is nothing to fret over, but when we spend six days a week doing the wrong things and only one doing the right, while simultaneously calling ourselves followers of Christ, we are not only disobeying God, but we are also being hypocritical.

We must truly make an attempt to live the way we think.  We must follow what we have been taught, and act upon what our conscience is telling us.  When we are confronted with a situation where we have the option to choose right over wrong, we can no longer choose to do wrong simply because it is easier at the time.  We can no longer put off doing right until that elusive tomorrow which never seems to arrive, and we can no longer ignore the effects of our actions.  The only way we will be able to achieve this goal, and make it past this roadblock we have encountered, is by practicing doing the right thing.  It is going to take a lot of effort, and it will most definitely involve some seemingly awkward situations, however with practice we will all become better at choosing to do right.  By consciously making the decision to do the right thing and by holding ourselves accountable when we do the wrong thing, eventually doing right will become second nature.  Through working to do good, we will all become better friends, better siblings, better children, better Christians, and over all better people.

    “learn right from wrong by practicing doing right” Hebrews 5:14