altar of Quietness
God Said It, So That Settles It
August 25, 2013
We are commanded throughout the Bible to love God more than anything else.
“'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.'" (Matthew 22:37)
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:5)
This would include loving God more than our own children.
"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me." (Matthew 10:37)
As a Christian parent, that means following His commandments no matter what, which means adolescent children do not rule over their parents. As a Christian parent, God rules over both parent and child, thus what we watch, wear, listen to, participate in and with whom, is expressly censored according to God's holy standard, not by how many other parents and children are participating in it.
To put it in perspective-- there is not much on cable T.V. or regular T.V., nor on the radio, nor hanging on store racks or folded up on store shelves that wouldn't violate that standard in some way.
"but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, 'YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.'” (1 Peter 1:15)
However, God also gave us the free will to choose who we would serve: Him or ourselves.
"So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the [unbelievers] also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;" (Ephesians 4:17)
God calls us to be set-apart from this world, not entertained by it or dress like it. We are to imitate God, not the world and those around us.
"Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children." (Ephesians 5:1)
Loving God more than our own children also means that if someone's grown children are living a sinful lifestyle according to God's standard of righteousness, which is clearly defined for us in the Bible, then God expects that parent to support His laws over their children's excuses.
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people." (2 Timothy 3:1)
God comes first. Period.
"Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD'S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?" (Deuteronomy 10:12)
Even if that means a parent having to forfeit a relationship with their grown children or, as an unfortunate result, their grandchildren.
"Then he said to them all: 'Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.'" (Luke 9:23)
Many parents overlook their adult children's or close loved-one's choice of lifestyle or behavior, because they fear losing their relationship with them altogether should they anger them by taking God's side.
"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26)
The word translated as "hate" in this verse is miséō, which means to love someone (or something) less than someone (or something) else, to renounce one choice in favor of another, to love less, or to postpone in love or esteem.
My pastor has a saying that he uses often: "God said it, so that settles it."
God has clearly and emphatically instructed us to love Him above and beyond anything else. He has left nothing open in His instructions to us to love Him for our own personal interpretation. The first Commandment of Ten is, “You shall have no other gods before me."
God's intention with His first Commandment to us is for us to understand that NOTHING comes before His level of importance and authority in our lives. How do I know God's intention? Because Jesus reiterated it, "Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment."
God said it. So that settles it.
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him;" (Deuteronomy 30:19)