The Way I See It? – The Kingdom Curriculum XIII (3)

The Way I See It?

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20

“You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and His testimonies and His statutes, which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD…” Deuteronomy 6:16-18

By Whose Standard?

Have you ever been in a conversation that, the longer it went, the more heated it became–people angrily disagreeing, arguing, and perhaps even putting one another down? No one wants to budge from his chosen position. Over and over you’ll hear someone say, “Well, that’s not the way I see it!”

Honesty requires that we examine our lives against reliable standards. Imagine a teacher who accepted a student’s own evaluation of his work as final and let him determine his own grade. Or a supervisor who allowed his employees to do their own performance evaluations. And what about those “the way I see it” arguments? Is everyone entitled to his own opinion on matters of Truth?

It’s just as silly to think that we are the best judges of how we’re doing in our walk with the Lord. The Scriptures command us to maintain a careful self-watch over our lives (cf. Prov. 4:20-27; 1 Tim. 4:16). But such self-examinations imply a standard. It’s not enough for us to say to the Lord at the end of each day, “I think I’m doing pretty well, Lord–at least, the way I see it.” Rather, we need to invite His scrutiny of our walk: “Search me, O God” (Ps. 139:23).

Let’s be honest with God by being honest before Him, for what really matters is how the Lord evaluates our thoughts, motives, priorities, and actions. We must study to do what is right, not just in our own eyes–Judges shows the folly of that–but in the eyes of the Lord.

How can we use the Law of God to make wise ethical choices? Order your copy of The Ground for Christian Ethics today. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.