The Norm

“Normalcy” is the word I heard that grabbed my attention. A newscaster used the term reporting about women sharing their abortion stories as an everyday, casual event. Telling such accounts would have been different had they discussed having ended a child’s life, repentance of that wrong, and God’s restoration. But that wasn’t the story. NORMALITY, the status quo—what many accept as routine—should never rest easy with believers in the One True Living God.

God created Adam and Eve and instituted marriage between a man and a woman. His plan has not changed. They had children together, and one brother killed the other. Whether someone takes a life after birth or before, it is still murder; God holds people accountable for lives made in His image.

God’s Word is plain; He wants everyone to recognize sin and how He expects—commands—humanity to live. God holds us who have yielded to the lordship of Christ to higher accountability. Those without the Holy Spirit guiding them will answer to God, but we who have Him leading us have no excuse. The YouVersion Bible passage on the day of that news story perfectly fits: “This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). What are the lusts of our flesh? Anything we desire that God doesn’t condone; Paul lists a few in vs. 19–21.

Adultery and fornication: You are an adulterer if you cheat on your spouse; Jesus said that even if you look at another with desirous or lustful thoughts, you have committed adultery in your heart (Matt 5:28). And it is sinful for the unmarried to live together, behaving as though they are. God doesn’t change His law to suit lusts and whims; He doesn’t overlook our “shortcomings” (bad habits, short tempers, desires, lies, slanders, etc.). God holds all accountable. Paul writes the stark truth that those who practice such things as the “norm” will not inherit the kingdom of God (v. 21b).

Christians must live above “the norm.” Walking in the Spirit, we obey God’s commands daily; His Word trumps man-made laws. Jesus said, “He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him (John 14:21). When we are disobedient children, what does that say about our love for our Lord?