God's Standards

The other day I overheard a conversation. I don't really know how it started but they ended up talking about marriage and kids. Then one mentioned that she wanted to have kids but not get married. She said that her mother always told her to be in a healthy relationship(s), have children, but not get married. Then they discussed how great it was that our society was beginning to favor women living together instead of marriage, as well as raising kids on your own. 

I thought this was awfully sad. I get it, I do. Marriage is hard, raising kids is hard, divorce is a mess, isn't it easier just to remain unmarried and walk away when you want to? One girl even mentioned that changing her name after her divorce was just so much work. To which I thought, as you split up a marriage, that's what you care about? 

Now, I understand that this side of the Kingdom, life will never be perfect. Kids will be a little messed up. Parents will fail. Life will be messy. Marriage will be difficult. But what the heck? Isn't that the point? God made this world imperfect so that we would long for more. BUT He also told us to try. Loving your spouse teaches you. Raising your kids teaches you. Keeping commitments when it's hard is the whole point of making a commitment.  

But our society has sadly started to replace what God says is good with imperfection. Marriage is hard? Don't get married. Tired of your spouse? Leave. Yes, life happens. We shouldn't forget to extend grace to others and ourselves. In fact, we must extend grace to others and ourselves. We need Jesus because we won't ever get it on our own. 

The point of this rambling is that God decides what is good. God's morals and standards do not change. It's not about whether we have messed up (because, we have, a lot!). We need to be careful that when the world tells us something is right that we weigh it against what God says.

The world says don't commit. God says commit and raise godly children, together. The world says follow your heart. God says follow Him. The world says you can figure it out. God says that He's got this. It can cause a lot of confusion and heartache. Whom do we follow? Won't we stick out if we do what God says? Yes! Is it worth it? Absolutely! His ways are a better way to live.