By Michael Crandall
Senior Pastor, Hillcrest Baptist Church, Dyersburg
Focal Passage: Matthew 5:27-32
What does being distinct in our relationships look like? We are now living in a world where the relationships of believers have very little differences from the relationships of non-believers. There was once a time when our churches and our families taught us that we have a biblical mandate to live a different life from that of non-believers. We have let the world creep into all walks of our lives and now you have to look really hard to find the differences between each other.
There is a word that we seem to have forgotten and that word is “moral.” For some reason we have forgotten that we are called to live a moral life. Morals are defined as a person’s standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do. We have lessened our morals so that we can have more friends and blend in better to the world. We have forgotten that we were called to live separate lives and to stand on the Word of God above all else.
This week our Scripture passage shares with us exactly how we are supposed to live! Matthew 5: 27-32 says: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.
“It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce;’ but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastely, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
When we read and follow the Scripture we are called to live a life that will be upstanding and moral.
