... and today we will look at three more:
1. The Law of Envy - James 4:1 (NLT2) “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?” If we are focusing on what others have or have accomplished, we are neglecting our own responsibilities and will eventually have an empty heart. Galatians 6:4-5 (NIV)
“Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.” Cloud and Townsend – Envy defines “good” as “what I do not possess,” and hates the good it has. How many times have you heard someone subtly put down the accomplishments of others, somehow robbing them of the goodness they had attained? We all have envious parts to our personalities. But what is so destructive about this particular sin is that it guarantees that we will not get what we want and keeps us perpetually insatiable and dissatisfied.
“Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.” Cloud and Townsend – Envy defines “good” as “what I do not possess,” and hates the good it has. How many times have you heard someone subtly put down the accomplishments of others, somehow robbing them of the goodness they had attained? We all have envious parts to our personalities. But what is so destructive about this particular sin is that it guarantees that we will not get what we want and keeps us perpetually insatiable and dissatisfied.
2. The Law of Activity - Cloud and Townsend – “Human beings are responders and initiators. Many times we have boundary problems because we lack initiative---the God given ability to propel ourselves into life. We respond to invitations and push ourselves into life.” Being passive and lazy never pays off…God will match our effort but He will not do our work for us. He would be crossing boundaries to do this. He wants us to be active asking, seeking, and knocking. Trying, failing, and trying again is called learning. Failing to try never produces anything good. Proverbs 19:15 (NCV) “Lazy people sleep a lot, and idle people will go hungry.”
3. The Law of Exposure - A boundary is a property line. It defines where you begin and end. We have been trying to communicate why we need such a line in our lives. Probably the most important reason that we need boundaries is because we do not live in a vacuum. You live in relation to God and to people. Your boundaries define you in relationship to others. The law of exposure tells us that our boundaries must be out in the open for everyone to see, we must value relationships enough to be honest, and we must operate in love. Don’t be surprised when people break the rules when they do not know what they are.
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