Morality

Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day;  1 Cor 10:8 (NASB)

In continuation of yesterday's challenge, today I am pondering verse eight.  These days it seems we automatically connect immorality to sexual impropriety of some sort.  And, that is an accurate connection.  One of the definitions of immoral is licentious or lascivious.  Both of those terms do tend to focus on sexual immorality.  And, naturally I'm not sexually immoral, am I?  Maybe not, but in a culture so heavily bombarded with sexuality, I do need to remember to compare my perspective to God's Word rather than to an American standard of morality.

But, as I thought more about what it means to avoid immoral behavior, I was reminded that there is much more to morality than sexual purity.  Dictionary.com (yes, I'm lazy - I went online instead of pulling out the hardback dictionary in the school room) gives this as the first definition of immoral:

• violating moral principles; not conforming to the patterns of conduct usually accepted or established as consistent with principles of personal and social ethics

It's very easy to consider myself a moral person relative to the standards of culture and society in which I live.  God's concept of immorality, however, is anything that does not conform to the ethics established not in our culture or society but in His Word.  Therefore, my challenge for today is to re-evaluate my standard of morality.  Is it in line with God's Word or simply with the standards of American society?