Faith, Morality, and the Power Within

We are not left helpless when it comes to living a meaningful and satisfying Christian life.  Jesus reminds us of the presence of the Holy Spirit, sent to be our Helper, giving us the power to live for Him.  Here are the words of Jesus in John 16:
8And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:9of sin, because they do not believe in Me;10of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;11of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.12I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.13However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come...

Not only can we know the difference between right and wrong, what pleases God and what does not, but we can also recognize that the Holy Spirit is our power source to display Godly character, who informs and empowers our choices so that we can live in a manner that glorifies God.  He will convict us of sin, so that we know when we miss the mark and appropriately confess our sins, He will also help us make the necessary course corrections in order to walk in victory.

This verse in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 - verse 12 - can remind us that we have the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit who will direct us into the truth of God and help to keep our lives in synchronization with Him:
12For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.

Are there differences in standards of morality and behavior between religious and non-religious people?  Well, a new survey set out to determine how morality plays out in everyday life, according to researcher Linda Skitka of the University of Illinois.  According to an article written by Billy Hallowell on The Blaze website, the results of the study, titled, “Morality in Everyday Life," which were published in the journal Science this month, found that there was no significant disparity between believers and nonbelievers when it came to the quality or number of moral acts.  That's according to the summary found in the British publication, the Daily Mail.

But, even though the study contends that your degree of religiosity doesn't necessarily make you more well-behaved, there are important differences between how the religious and nonreligious emotionally process moral and immoral acts, as Hallowell points out.  He writes:

While the results might lead some to dismiss the purported benefits of personal faith, there is one caveat worth noting: religious people were found to have more pride and gratitude when they committed moral acts.

They were also embarrassed and disgusted more than their nonbelieving counterparts when they committed immoral acts, the outlet reported.

To obtain the results, researchers used smartphone analysis to reach out to 1,252 adults ages 18 to 68. Over a three-day period, these individuals — from America and Canada — were given five signals that asked them to answer questions about moral and immoral acts they participated in or observed in the past hour.

The study’s abstract says, "The science of morality has drawn heavily on well-controlled but artificial laboratory settings,” reads  “To study everyday morality, we repeatedly assessed moral or immoral acts and experiences in a large … sample using ecological momentary assessment.”

The study’s central take away is that, despite having theological differences, believers and nonbelievers were found to have much more in common when it comes to morality’s role in everyday life than some might otherwise assume.

This article certainly attracted my attention, and I began to think about the roots of morality.  So what constitutes a moral act?   How do you determine whether or not something is truly moral or immoral? I believe that the definitions of right and wrong are determined by the principles of God and the Scriptures - so while someone who claims to have no religious faith is also claiming to commit a moral act, then that person is holding to a societal morality that has its roots in the Scriptures.

There are still an abundance of societal norms, even in this age of moral relativism, that are determined by those timeless faith precepts.  We become outraged at murder, because it's flat-out wrong, and that's determined by God and the Bible.  We chafe at a variety of forms of social violence, because they violate our sense of respect for other people, taught by the Bible.  Even though entertainment has seemingly become more and more of a cesspool of depictions of deviancy, we still find that there are still limits.   So, even though we may think the influence of Biblical principles may be waning, yet the presence of God's truth continues to provide restraint for a culture that is bent on pushing the envelope.

It's pretty interesting to see how people who claim to be faith-less are compelled somehow to behave like the faithful.  The difference is that the people who have religious faith seem to have a moral compass that is obviously shaped by their faith.  Religious people are affirmed internally when we commit moral acts and feel guilty when we act immorally.  I think, for the Christian, it shows that our consciences are tuned in to the Holy Spirit, and His promptings can assist us in living a life that reflects Godly character.  I think it is important not only to act morally, but also to know why we do what we do - motivated by grace and love, driven by God's direction.   To keep our lives in check, we rely on the Word of God brought to light by the Spirit of God, illuminating our minds to make choices consistent with our nature in Christ.