Living with integrity

My QT topic for the past two weeks.

Is it really possible to live with integrity in this crazed world? In Romans 12:1-2, "Therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Ethics is the system of acceptable beliefs or morals that control our behaviour. So, in that case, ethics would vary from person to person. Like, take the Dark Knight for example. When the Joker wanted to blow up the two boats, what would you do if you were a civillian on that boat? Or an inmate on the other?

ok.. BACKGROUND: The Joker planted bombs in two of the boats that was evacuating the city and he said that each boat had a detonator to the bomb of the other boat, and they had to choose. If one boat blows up, the Joker would let the other one go. However, if anyone tries to get off the boat or has not reached a decision in 15 minutes, both boats would be blown sky high. One boat consists of civillians, while the other was chock-full of prisoners... aiyah watch the show! haha!

So what would you do? If you are watching the show you would not really care. But if a psychopath actually does that and threats "I will blow up two shopping malls..." then what would you do? Especially if you are trapped in one of the two malls? Would you care about your own life?

Anyway, I guess our actions would determine our ethics, and through our ethics, people would be able to see what we believe in, what we stand for.

Look at Job, for example. He had everything, he was rich. But God struck Him down really hard and took everything away, even giving him boils, until he only had his wife left. Everything else was gone. If it was you, and the things you love most are taken from you, what would you do then?

Ok, let's put it in our context. Let's say, if you like this person, and you never got a chance with her/him. What would you do then? Some people would just drop it, others might start to curse and keep pestering God why. etc.

Another example. You studied very hard for a certain test, and your results got screwed up so bad that even the guy who never studied scored much better than you. Would you start to curse God and want to ask God for the bottomline of this whole thing?

Haha don't get me wrong, I'm just giving examples.

Honestly, when good things happen to you, its very easy to thank God for it. However, when bad and hurtful things come our way, will we still thank God for it? More like, we would distance from Him.

Job lost everything. His friends asked him to start cursing God. Job stood the test though. He continued to worship and praise God even though God brought this upon him.

Would we actually be able to stand up for what we believe in, both in good times and in bad times? Since our actions reveal our ethics, would people want to listen about a person's religion if bad things happen and that person start to emo/shut people off/curse/get pissed etc.?

I guess maybe it could be a matter of perspective. If you face a hard and hurtful time, don't think about it. Instead, look on the bright side. You know God will always be there to pull you out and pull you through, and you know that you are righteous in God's eyes because of what Jesus had done on the cross.

Here is what you can do if you happen to face a time of crisis:

- Pray about it, ask God to give you strength to see you through
- You can ask God why, I'm sure its ok. However do not let your mind dwell on it, it would give the devil a foothold to inplant questions in your mind.
- If you have your Bible with you, ask God for a passage, and refer to it.
- Share this with someone whom you can fully trust. Close friends will help a lot.
- Look at it from a different perspective! See this hard time as God testing you for your morals and what you believe in. See this as a trial of faith, if you can stand through it all the way.
- DON'T listen to whatever whispering you hear in your head, if it makes you feel worst or disturbed. The devil would try to piss you off even further, like for example:

You like this person, but you know/realise you have no chance with that person. And then you hear a voice "Yeah. So what are you gonna do? You know that person does not like you. You are like crap man." then obviously its from the enemy.

The main thing is that if you get a word, if you hear a voice in your head, it has to give you peace. If God is speaking to you, there would be God-filled peace even though the crisis might be right on top of you. If its from the enemy, you would be either more pissed off or more emo.

The enemy is well built in psychological warfare. But nothing is impossible for Jesus! We can do everything through Jesus who gives us strength!

Take heart! This battle may be/is a daunting one, but we know who the ultimate Victor is.

So yeah, bottomline, your morals/actions/ethics gotta stand up for what is right in God's eyes, no matter rain or shine. And I assure you, in time, people would be curious about what you believe in, how its making you into a discerning person. That, would be a harvest field of souls.

Will be praying for all you people out there! =D