Disobedience: Are There Any Pros? - By Triniti

  I recently learned an important lesson. Your parents tell you to do (or not do) certain things for a reason. Everything that they say and do as they're raising you is for you to learn and grow in safety. By being disobedient, you don't only potentially harm yourself, but also you potentially harm your relationship with your friends or parents.

  Benjamin Franklin, in Poor Richards Almanac, said, "Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden, but forbidden because it is hurtful. Nor is a duty beneficial because it was commanded, but commanded because it is beneficial." Paraphrased, he wrote, "The reason that you are told not to do bad things is not because your parents and friends want to hurt you, but because if you sin you will hurt yourself and your friends and family. You are told to do good things so that you don't hurt yourself or others."

  A lot of bad things in history have happened due to disobedience. The fall of man, for instance, happened in the blink of an eye because Eve thought that she could "be like God, knowing both good and evil." (Genesis 3:4) Even though God had told Adam and Eve that they may NOT eat off of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Eve disobeyed, caused Adam to do the same, and by doing that, threw the future of the world into turmoil. Not all sins or acts of disobedience will affect the rest of the world for thousands of years. They can, however, affect your life and how you view things and react to them.

  I know that a lot of you reading this are probably thinking, "I do my best to be obedient. It's not like I'm perfect, but I know right from wrong and wouldn't do anything insanely wrong just because my friends did." I personally would have thought that I was pretty good myself, but even the smallest sin is a big deal and can land you somewhere that you don't want to be. Jesus said, "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell." (Matthew 5:29-30 ESV)

  Doing your best will not get you to heaven. Disobeying will not necessarily place you in hell. If you or I repent of our sins then we can get to heaven. Sincerely repenting your sins to God and asking forgiveness from both him and whomever you wronged, believing that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and following God in his ways and his directions is essential to getting to heaven. You also need faith in God that he will do as he promises, unlike us, who go around neglecting promises and sinning at every corner. "God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?" (Numbers 23:19 ESV)

  Too many times we think, "We won't really get in trouble. This isn't even sinning! I mean, I know that my mom told me to never (fill in the blank), but there's nothing wrong with doing it. In fact, it's fun!" But this "fun" that you're having isn't actually fun. It's a feeling like you're getting away with something, which may make you proud, but it isn't actually enjoyable. It actually feels sickening when you think about it, but you're too caught up in your sin to even realize that it's not enjoyable.

  So why would we sin? If we don't like it, and it makes us feel terrible and purposeless, why would we do it? Do we want everyone to think, "Oh my gracious, look at that! They got away with that. I wish that I could do that." I don't think that we do. The Bible says, "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law." (Romans 5:12-13 ESV) We are born with the want and capability to sin. No matter how we try to live "good" lives, it is impossible for us to because we are naturally sinners and cannot be otherwise.

  That is why Jesus came. Without his love and sacrifice there would be no way for us to get to heaven, and we would be eternally separated from him. Not one person ever has been or ever will be without sin. We do need to put our trust in Jesus, and we also need to strive to be more obedient to him and to our parents. It is impossible to be completely without sin. Even the most godly people lie sometimes or do other things that God has instructed us not to do. God doesn't look at one sin and say, "For shame! For that act thou shalt now spend thy days in hell! I believe that thou art far too dishonest to exist." He would not say that. There have been people that He has killed on the spot and sent to hell, but it was not because they lied a few times. He did that because they did some terrible, terrible things. Even David wasn't sent immediately to hell after his encounter with Bathsheba. He was given a chance to repent, which he did. Later David and Bathsheba were given the chance to raise Solomon, the boy that would become the wisest man ever to exist.

  Sinning is not good. Disobedience is not good. Both can lead to consequences that you don't want to see. Both can harden your heart when it comes to discerning the differences between right and wrong. One little sin won't condemn you for the rest of your life. Not sincerely repenting of that sin and trusting in God will.

"If we had forgotten the name of our God

or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

would not God discover this?

For he knows the secrets of the heart.

(Psalm 44:20-21 ESV)

  God sees all sin, even the hidden sin. We can't escape from God's justice any more than I could calculate the mass of the universe. God wants everyone to come to faith in him, but people are too caught up in their sin to even realize that they're doing wrong. In order to put all your trust in Jesus, you need to first, acknowledge that you have sin, and second, repent of that sin. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins." (Romans 3:23-25 ESV)

  Just because we think that we do no wrong doesn't mean that that is true. Sin and disobedience can truly harm you, maybe not physically, but they can potentially mentally or they could harm your relationships with friends and family.

  I'm not saying that you always have to be obedient. If your parents or teacher tell you to go shoot and kill someone, than I would say, "DO NOT DO THAT!!!!!" Killing is wrong and should not be condoned by anyone. I honestly don't think that most parents in America are handing their children guns, "Do you see that guy over there?... Why don't you see if you can kill 'im and steal his money?" That is not happening in current American society. But my point is, there is a time for obedience, which is most of the time, and a time for disobedience, which is only if your parents, teachers, government, etc. are telling you to disobey God's authority or doing something that could end up physically harming someone else.

  I write this from experience. I know that I'll sin and disobey again. No matter how hard we try, it is impossible to behave perfectly all the time. However, we can strive to be more godly and God honoring then we are. Like I said before, unless you're truly evil, we don't truly enjoy sin. We sin because it's part of our human nature. Just because we're naturally like that doesn't make it good or right for us to do.

  Thank you for reading, and please, keep your relationships with your family strong by always obeying your parents in the Lord. It does not pay off to be disobedient. 

Triniti