Accountability: Choosing Your Standards
Judges 21:25
What are your values? There are a lot of people who would say, "It really doesn't matter what you believe" but that's just not true. It does matter what you believe. The kind of person you are is based on the things you've chosen to value. If you want to build a life of success and significance you must build it on lasting values.
What is THE CAUSE of the crisis of values in our society?
Two words: Truth Decay. The fact is, we no longer value the truth in America.
There has been a major shift in values in the last 40 years in our society about what was true, what was right and what was wrong.
Consequently, there are no standards by which you can evaluate your life and behavior.
Three Very Destructive Philosophies that have replaced truth in our society.
Individuality or individualism -- live for myself, only I can be the standard of my life, only I can judge what's true and you don't have any place telling me what's right or wrong or true.
"In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." (Judges 21:25 NASB).
Secularism can be summarized in three words: God is unnecessary.
Secularism is talked about in the book of Romans, chapter 1. "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped created things rather than the Creator." Rom. 1:25 (NIV)
Relativism can be summarized two words: No absolutes.
God has something to say about political correctness: "You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts" (Eph. 4:17-19).
What's THE COST of not having any standards, values, not even agreeing with what is true right and wrong?
The cost is our culture is collapsing.
All of a sudden with no God there is no truth. As a result we have a collapsing culture.
Proverbs 29:18 "Where there is ignorance of God, crime runs wild." (LB).
God's word the Bible, tells the truth.
Isaiah 5:20 "Destruction is certain for those who say that evil is good and good is evil; that dark is light and light is dark." (LB).
Proverbs 29:18 (Good News) "A nation without God's guidance is a nation without order."
Our nation was founded on the two presuppositions from God, our rights are endowed by our creator, and that we are to follow basic moral laws that He has laid out. That's the cornerstone of our society.
This is a nation that was truly founded upon the belief in God. What do you think happens to society or families or even individuals when we don't have any objective standard to judge our behavior by?
THE CURE is to rebuild the foundation starting with God. Because God is truth.
When we are different from the character of the creator who made us, it's wrong.
When we're like the character of the creator who made us, it's right. what truth is.
Proverbs 2:9 "God shows us how to distinguish right from wrong,, how to find the right decision every time." (LB)
Truth is universal, it applies to everyone, everywhere in every culture.
Truth is unchanging. It's always the same.
Psalm 119:105 (LB) - "God's Word is a flashlight to light the path ahead of me and keep me from stumbling."
Proverbs 16:20 (NLT) is a promise. "Those who listen to God's instruction will prosper and those who trust the Lord will be happy."
It all comes down to a choice. Whose values are you going to choose to live by? What's going to be my standard by which I make my decisions in life and am held accountable?