Setting Preventatives
Isn’t it funny how when we’re told not to do something our initial inclination is either to do that thing or to get as close to doing it as we can without actually committing the offense? We seem to have this built-in aversion to what it feels like having our “freedoms” taken away. While freedom certainly is a good thing, what if the rules or guidelines are put in place to keep us safe, not to “rip us off?”
I’ve always loved the language that Paul uses when he talks about the fruit of the Spirit and fruit of the world. In Galatians, he says, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18). He then lists out manifestations of the works of the flesh. Things like sexual immorality, jealousy, envy, and drunkenness.
What I find interesting is when Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, he says, “against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). When we are walking with the Spirit, our lives will produce what the Spirit produces. The product of the Spirit needs no boundaries – this is where true freedom is experienced.
It's the walking in our flesh, or in our sinful nature, that laws need to be put in place. It’s here that we have the “Do Not Enter” signs and the “restricted” areas. The sobering thing is that God will not force you not to go to the places you should not go. We have all the information we need in the Bible and by the counsel of the Holy Spirit, but at the end of the day we have the choice to go down the path or not.
There’s an interesting warning in Proverbs 5. The author is urging the reader to stay away from the adulteress woman. We’re told “her path leads to death and although her speech is smoother than oil, in the end she is bitter as wormwood” (Proverbs 5:3-4). The author says, “Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,” (Proverbs 5:8).
The larger charge is to stay away from adultery, but the author adds on by saying don’t even go by the house. It’s important to note here, it’s not that walking by a specific house is sinful, but wisdom says it’s not worth it to even go near a place that may bring temptation. This is a preventative charge.
Maybe it’s not the house of the adulterer for you, but where do you find slippery slopes that seem to lead you down paths of poor decisions? These could be things that lead to sin or even practices you have that waste time and are unproductive. Have something in mind? Now, what’s a preventive that you could put in place to help keep you from doing the thought-of thing?
The goal here is to make it harder to do thing we’re trying not to do. What I mean by that is this, if eating junk food is something I want to do less of, then a helpful place to start would be to not keep my pantry stocked with junk food. That way in order for me to appease that desire, I’d have to grab my keys, get in my truck, drive to the store, and buy the junk food. Suddenly, I have a series of hurdles that are intentionally put in place in order to make it more challenging for me to have junk food.
Trivial example there, but the practice works. I want to encourage you to prayerfully consider a practice that you’d like to employ in order to root out some present bad behavior. Let’s together commit to employing the preventative. Let’s walk by wisdom by practicing making it harder not easier for us to do the wrong thing – thus setting an easier path to doing the right thing.
