J.O.Y.

Growing up in an Independent Fundamental Baptist church there are several things that I learned. One was that the Bible is true, therefore there is a Heaven to gain and a Hell to shun. God is holy, He is to be feared and reverenced, and He also wants to have a personal relationship with me.

I also learned that if you don't smoke, drink or chew or go with girls that do, you probably are a pretty good Christian. Though I am being sarcastic, the reality was that being a good Christian seemed to entail a list of do's and don'ts. As long as you followed that list, it was OK to be involved with most anything else. Sad to say, many that spoke the loudest about following these standards, ended up in some kind of immoral situation that did far more harm than the hair styles, clothes styles or the type of music that was listened to.

While reading my Bible last night, I came across several verses about striving over issues that do not profit anyone. I was reminded about the churches gathering in Acts 15 and the conclusions that they came to. Notice the list of do's and don'ts that they came up with:


But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. (Acts 15:20)

I haven't come across any lists like that lately, but it is interesting to notice what the key issues were for these early churches;

1. No Idols - That would be loving God over everything else.
2. No Sexual Sin - That would be focusing on the right kind of human relationships.
3. Refraining From Unhealthy Foods - That would be caring properly for yourself.

This is exactly what God commands of each one of us in The Great Commandment. We are to make God our priority, then place others as more important than ourselves, and last of all to be concerned about our own needs. JESUS - OTHERS - YOU is the acrostic that gives us J.O.Y.