“Our capacity to live in denial about the law of consequences is huge and is damaging to the soul.”

A thought by John Ortberg (2014-04-22) from his book, Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 91). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

It is so easy to live in a state of denial isn’t it? Such as…

…I can eat a dozen Cinnamon Rolls from Winchell’s and it won’t affect my weight.

…I can have an affair but it won’t hurt my marriage.

…I can let my temper fly and it won’t hurt my relationships.

…I can have an attitude at work and get away with it.

…I can spend, spend, spend and I won’t get into debt.

…I can never go to church or never read my Bible and it won’t hurt my relationship with Christ.

But no matter how much you believe those statements your denial of the law of consequences will be huge and damaging.

Now there is also a positive side to this law of consequences. If I live by or use the law of consequences for my good then it will have a positive effect in my life. Such as…

…If I eat healthy, watch the amount I eat and exercise regularly then my weight will respond positively.

…If I do all I can to show love, to spend time with, to listen and respond to my spouse in an understanding and caring way, then my marriage will grow stronger.

…If I keep my spending and desires under control then I will be financially secure.

…If I go to church, hunger to know more about Him and what He wants and do what He wants, then my relationship with Him will grow.

A key to living life to its fullest is to understand the principle of cause and effect and live by it. If I live by the fact that if I do certain things then certain things will happen both in a negative way or a positive way that will go a long way to living my life to its fullest.

Paul says over in Galatians 6:7-8 (Msg), “What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.” In other words, what you plant you reap.

So are you living a life of denial of the law of consequences?

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