watch video by philosopher Michael Horner
Morals and ethics are best learned as it is observed in the life of another. It's best learned in relationship with one who is an impeccable model of morals and ethics.
We suggest Jesus Christ. No, not the Christian religious system . . . the man Jesus Christ.
The essence of Christianity is not rules but relationship. What a relationship with Christ provides is an objective reference point for right and wrong. Lacking an objective reference point beyond ourselves, we can become prisoners in our own subjectivity, designing ethical systems which we think we can keep.
What a relationship with Christ does is reveal our need to trust in something other than ourselves. Rather than trusting in our own efforts to "be good" or "try harder," we begin to trust in the one who provides us with truth. A relationship with Christ is the integrating factor that makes it possible not only to understand truth, but to be able to apply it to your life and relationships, to issues of morality and ethics.
The person who has begun a relationship with Jesus Christ has not only become acquainted with truth; he or she has the truth living inside. It is through this relationship that you are provided with relevant direction and answers to tough choices that you face. He has the power and ability to help shape and mold you into a person of character, making a relationship with Jesus Christ definitely worth pursuing and developing.
Making a life is a matter of choices. Those choices are yours to make. And the choices you make will determine if you experience randomness, superficiality, and compromise or purpose, depth and significance.
You may find yourself presently at a crossroads . . . not sure which way to choose. Jesus Christ said to a group of his friends standing at a similar fork in the road, "I am the way, the truth and the life . . ." If you want to try his "road" or "way" and to know what kind of choices he offers, go directly to the source.
Jesus Christ lived, died, and came to life again so that you could be set free to experience all that life was created to be . . . he loves you and wants to make himself and his purposes known to you. He wants you to experience real life every day.
You can make contact with him personally by simply saying something like . . . "Jesus Christ, I still have a lot of questions about you . . . and I'm not sure I completely believe, but if you are the source of real life . . . the one who created me and died to free me, here I am saying I want to know you if you're knowable. I want to experience relationships, character and life the way you created it. Please make yourself known to me. Thanks!"
Wherever you are as you read this today, you are probably looking for success. Can success be found apart from Christ? Sure! But if you are looking for that gut-level sense of meaning, joy and significance that circumstances cannot take from you, then look to the provider of purpose himself. Investigate what he has to say. You can do more than merely cope with college life; you can major in real life!
Copyright 1997 WSN Press, Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc. Used by permission of WSN Press and Campus Crusade for Christ. All rights reserved. WSN Press, Campus Crusade for Christ--2500, 100 Lake Hart Dr., Orlando, FL 32832 USA.
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