MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

With all of the changes in nature that this issue of the bimonthly discusses, I am thankful for the fact that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8, NIV 1984). This is very comforting to me when we live in a world that is constantly changing. Thanks to advanced technology we can instantly see and react to what is happening all over the world.

We have all been affected by social media. I am a baby boomer. I have seen massive changes in technology, communication, and social norms. What once would have been appalling and shocking has become commonplace. Living together, and even having children outside of marriage is not shocking anymore. Gay lifestyles are accepted and protected by law. Immorality and sexuality are flaunted. Religious values are deemed outdated and old fashioned. In fact, the idea of absolute truth is mocked, and we are told that everything is relative — including morals and ethics.

I am thankful we have a Creator who does not change with the times. God's values and truths have not and will not change. We can depend on what he says and build our lives around it. Jesus, God in the flesh, said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). God's Word is Truth and is complete and perfect (John 17:17 and Revelation 22:18 – 19). It does not change.

God has given us in the past in the Ten Commandments a moral code to live by (Exodus 20:1 – 17). Jesus calls us to an even higher standard in the New Testament. The truth is that none of us can live up to those standards. “All have sinned and fall short” (Romans 3:23). God's values and truths do not change from age to age or culture to culture. He holds us accountable to his standards and his Truths as revealed in his Word. We are told to “keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience” (1 Timothy 3:9).

We do not need to be tossed about and blown here and there by every wind of teaching (Ephesians 4:14), being confused and corrupted by the world's changing standards, values, and opinions. We have a loving heavenly Father who clearly gives us rules to live by and then helps us to do it. I am thankful for God's unchanging nature.

— Cynthia Clayton

Picture credits:
©Patty Gibson