A Believer Is A Person of Principle
(Excerpt from "A Person of His Presence: Welcome God's Presence Into Your Busy Life.")
A believer’s life is about pleasing our Heavenly Father. We do not live to satisfy our selfish, fleshly desires. So many powerful men and women of God had derailed their destinies by neglecting the divine warning to live principled lives.
David was called a man after the heart of God. David wrote in Psalm 119 how he cherished the word of God, which contained the principles and the will of God:
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11 NIV)
There has to be a passion in your heart to please and not offend God. You don’t want to do anything that causes separation between you and God. You do not want to have a lifestyle that raises the question of whether you are connected to God.
Unfortunately, King David made some mistakes along the way. He sinned with Bathsheba in adultery. After that, he gave the order that guaranteed her husband's death on the battlefield (See 2 Samuel 11). The Lord loved him but did not let him get away with it. His punishment was excruciating and embarrassing. He learned the hard way that you must keep the principles of God, or you will end up breaking yourself against them. God’s guiding principles do not budge under pressure.
The psalmist contrasted a principled man's life with a lawless person's. It is clear that a principled life is better.
“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.” (Psalms 1:1–6 NLT)
A person who delights in God’s laws or principles for living enjoys a very prosperous life. To shun the wicked ways of sinners (those who live unprincipled lives) guarantees God’s protection and perpetual proximity. The benefits of one over the other are evident to all observant students of life.
My questions now are simple:
Have you become too relaxed regarding your principles?
Are you principled in one area but not in another?
Are you principled one day and following a worldly philosophy the next?
If you have allowed your principles to slip, you must return to the Bible. Refresh your memory on what is important to God and return to a morally principled life.
It is essential to God that we live right. I am not suggesting that we become legalists. By grace, we need to meet the requirements of the law. Only in Christ Jesus can we meet and exceed the principles provided in the Bible. Know that God did not lower His standards. When Jesus came to earth, He met the standard, and He exceeded the standard. So, when you’re in Christ Jesus, you must also follow Him by loving and living a holy, principled life.
We must all get to a place where we are firmly convinced about God’s principles. We should all commit to living a morally principled life. That way, our sins will not bring separation from the manifested Presence of God in our lives.