Morality

What happened to Morality?

We live in a world that is changing, and not for the better. Morality has been replaced by character qualities. Character is not a bad thing, but where, how and why we develop that character can be considered bad.

Everyone is defined by their character. The way that other people perceive you as a person is defined by your character. People judge you according to what they see in you, your actions, your speech, your attitude and your temperament to name a few. Your character, as it defines who you are, also defines your nature and can be used to render judgment upon actions attributed to you good or bad to determine if they are within or out of character with your normal actions.

Modern society has tried to move beyond faith based morality into a secular based character trait teaching. As part of a progressive initiative, based upon liberal ideas which reject or minimize biblical teachings, character building through secular based instruction tries to inject a type of secular based copy of morality into society.

The most perceivable differences between morality and character is from the teaching and the focus.

Psalms 14:1
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt , they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

When we think of a fool, we tend to define it as people that do foolish things. Those that partake in foolish ventures, act up or even take risks normal people would consider hazardous. But in this verse the word fool is used in a different meaning, The word in Hebrew is nabal from the root word nabel. When used in this verse it means vile or ungodly, morally wicked. The foolishness or folly of this fool is because they have rejected God and show no reverence to him. The world we are living in has become profane and secular, teaching contempt and irreverence for the things of God. This includes the bible and the teachings of God. Morality is only found through the pages of our most sacred text, the word of God. Morality is more than a conditioning or teaching that shows on the outside, but is issued from the heart. True morality, that comes from within, is not something that we have to train ourselves to do in order to act that way, but is the work of the Holy Spirit being active in our lives as we study the word, accept it and surrender ourselves to God.

Character is being taught in schools and businesses and has been since first introduced as training by Kimray Inc. for their manufacturing plant, in 1992. Since then their program has been made available to schools and businesses and is now used worldwide. The company felt that their problems had to do with lack of character of the employees and if character was instilled on a individual basis, then the problems that plagued the company would disappear. The popularity of the program and others like it has grown and has been seen as a way to solve problems in businesses and other organizations because of problems within the companies. Schools have adopted the program because of problems not only in the schools but in society away from the campuses. By instilling character traits in the students they feel that students will live better lives away from the school setting and will in turn improve society.

Why are character traits being taught in the schools? Because of the lack of morality based upon the bible in the past few decades. If biblical based morality was instilled in children and adults like it was in times past then we would have no need for character training away from the church or family.

There are problems with character based teaching in schools. Character based teaching is secular and can only be effective as to your self worth. Morals, biblically based, is not based on self importance but upon pleasing God.

Many of the terms used in the secular based character teaching and in biblical based morality are the same but with different meanings.

              Secular based                                                          

Faith - Confidence that actions rooted in good character will yield the best outcome, even when I cannot see how

Compassion - Investing whatever is necessary to heal the hurts of others

Discernment - Understanding the deeper reasons why things happen

Honor - Respecting others because of their worth as human beings

Loyalty - Using difficult times to demonstrate my commitment to those I serve

Patience - Accepting a difficult situation without giving a deadline to remove it

                Bible based

Faith - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For a Christian, our faith is rooted in God and his word.

Compassion - True compassion is more than just pity or empathy toward others who are suffering. Compassion can be given to every man in all circumstances, not just the hurting and brokenhearted but also to the point of loving your enemies. God's compassion was shown toward us, not because He pitied us or felt sorry for us but because He loved us. When we were without God, we weren't in a state to be pitied in our eyes, we were happy in our sins. God's Love was shown through the sacrifice of His Son. True compassion can only be shown to others because of God's Love for us.

Discernment - Is the judgment of actions, teachings or interpretation of scripture. It is basically judging whether something is good or bad, right or wrong, true or false. Discernment is a gift and we are able to discern through the Spirit according to the word of God.

 Honor - is bestowed upon those to whom honor is due. Honor is given to those who have shown themselves worthy of the respect of their authority or position. Honor can also be bestowed because of someone’s character. Honor is only made complete by attention or obedience. We honor God and are obedient to Him because of His great love for us by granting salvation, and we honor Him through our obedience and service.

Loyalty - Faithfulness to God and placing no other above or equal to Him. According to Jesus you can only serve one master. Loyalty is to be undivided and we are to serve God, only.

Patience - is mentioned in the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 and is of the Spirit and manifest through us as we allow the Spirit to work in our lives. It is enduring through all situations without allowing sin to enter in.

As with all secular, progressive or liberal based teachings it focuses on self importance rather than the importance of someone else. It deals with conditions that you have been trained to follow to market yourself as a valuable member of society. And as a valuable member of society you can gain status because of your good character. In biblical based teachings the focus is on God. Our character which is grounded in the word of God shows in me because of who God is and because He is active in my life.

God has been removed from the places of learning and replaced with a myriad of teachings which encourage growth in society apart from spirituality. Under the disguise of "separation of church and state" biblical based teachings have been removed from the classroom, and secular teachings have entered in; changing definitions and meanings of biblical virtues. If you note the different meanings to the same words above you can see the difference between the biblical and the profane teachings.

In the secular world, men focus upon who they are according to their abilities to prosper in society. The number one goal is to be all they can be at whatever the cost, to elevate themselves beyond others and to achieve a place in society of some importance. Sometimes to achieve that goal involves self-sacrifice, and sometimes the sacrifice of others. In the Christian world, we should focus upon Christ and through Him we become who we are. Our goal should be to glorify God through our actions, our speech and our testimony. The most important place we can be, is in the service of God.

Biblical morals are not dead, but they are being replaced. Replaced by teachers and trainers that want to try to mend a broken world where people have no regard for themselves or others. Morals can only be taught in the church or the home by people that understand what true character is and how it can affect the world. Sound teaching from the word of God that instills virtue and character and sets the nature of a person. Wisdom and knowledge that prepares a person to face any problem or situation and knows that anything is possible through God. a person that allows the Holy Spirit to be active in their lives and to discern what is false and not of God. People that place their faith in God and not their confidence in actions rooted in good character.