I want you to think about something as you read through this. What has influenced the setting of your moral compass?
Living in this age of technological advancement is hard. It’s even harder when you trying to set your moral compass. We need to set our own personal moral compass and that can be a challenge of its own. Reason being, we need to know deep down inside of us who we are. No matter who you are and how you were reared. We all have a sense of right and wrong. I personally was brought up as a southern Baptist, but that alone only tells you what influences I have had in my life. By the grace of God it has been an amazing influence. My moral compass is set on God and for about ten years it lost its setting. I allowed influences in my life to sway the setting. Key-Word here; I Allowed. No one forced me, it was a choice I made on my own. Again by God’s loving grace I was protected even shielded by Him alone. God’s heart broke as I slowly slipped away from Him but He has used every bit of those years and every year that I came back to Him to help me reset my moral compass. There are several influences that mold our way of thinking on where or how our compass is set. To name a few: Our heart and mind, events, religion, family, our peers and media.
When setting our moral compass, my prayer is that you look towards God and what He has to say.
“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart,” I Samuel 16: 7 b
I am learning more and more about how the heart and mind have an outstanding effect on where our moral compass is set. You see, where your mind/thoughts are, that determines what is in your heart. Whatever is in your heart is what flows out into your life. Scripture has stated it over and over about these two members of our body and their part in our life. Here are just a couple.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything flows from it. Keep your mouth free from perversity; Keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your feet from evil.” Proverbs 4:23-27 NIV
“Set your mind in things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:2
Everything that is with-in you and everything that you do, determines where you set your moral compass. When we set our minds on God. We are filling our heart with God’s love, thus guarding our heart from the other influences around us. There is so much that I would love to share on this subject. So much that we can learn but that would take us away from the theme of this post. Come back soon as I touch on the other influences. In the meantime, would you take the time to help grow this series and share your answer to the question I first proposed. What has influenced the setting of your moral compass?
In His Love, Crisi
My father was a pastor and I am very grateful to my parents for the many spiritual lessons they taught me–not only in my formative years but beyond.
I’m the same way, very thankful and grateful for my parents instilling biblical truths in my life.
Hi Crisi, I was thankful to have a friend who invited me to church, and in 4th grade I accepted the Lord as my Savior. He saw me through many trials and choices. I’ve always looked to Him to help guide me. However, I’ve also wondered if I need to be stricter at choosing what I watch/do/say. My friend never watches a movie that is over PG13 (she’s 52). I often wonder about what I watch on tv or in movies and whether it matters. I know it’s not something glorifying the Lord; however, I don’t allow it to settle into my heart. I don’t give the language or morals I witness on screen to become acceptable in my world. I guess that could be rationalizing it, I’m not sure. 🙂
Isn’t God’s grace and mercies amazing, when we see how He got us through those trials and choices. Thank you for sharing.
Beautifully written! As a fellow believer, I agree wholeheartedly with you. We have to be careful what we fill our minds with especially this day in age when there is so much filth around us.
Great post! I am now an active subscriber!
Thanks for subscribing. So true there is so much filth all around us and He will see us through. Thank you for sharing.
This is lovely. Thanks for sharing! My grandparents helped influence my moral compass. They were wonderful people- praying every day for me.
One of the best blessings we can receive is having people praying for us. Thank you for sharing.
There are so many things that influence one’s moral compass. I was born in the south, and raised southern Baptist. My uncle and cousins are preachers, but I have taken my own path…I believe, just not the same way they do if that makes any sense at all, but I have had many different life experiences that have influenced me. Thanks for the post, definitely something to think about.
I do understand what you are saying. I am thankful and grateful for my parents instilling biblical truths in my life but there are times when we have different moral compass settings but that’s ok because then this world would be a very boring place if we were all exactly alike.
The community I was raised in influenced my moral compass to help one another and accept everyone for who they are. And I also thank my parents for the moral compass too.
Community is one of the influences to our moral compass. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I am a Christian too, and God is definitely the center of my moral compass. I try to live my life for Him the best that I can and have an ‘eternal’ mindset. Which is something that is hard to do especially in the world today with so much filth to fill our minds with. Thank you for sharing one of my favorite verses:
“Set your mind in things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:2
Thank you for sharing this & reminding me to always be careful with where my focus is.
There are so many distractions trying to refocus our thoughts in this world, but we are only traveling through we haven’t reached our home yet. This verse is one of my reminders to stay focused on Him. Thank you for sharing.
My family, for sure… and my community.
Thanks for sharing.
God is definitely the center of my moral compass, I am also a christian and God influences EVERYTHING in my like, Marriage, family, children, business, etc. Thank you for sharing!
I’m the same way. Thank you for sharing.
I really enjoyed reading this post. After many years astray I’ve spent the last two renewing my relationship with God. I try very hard to keep focused on the ‘bigger’ picture–that this world is not all there is; it’s only a very small part of the picture. It’s amazing the desires He puts in our heart to help guide me toward new moral paths I never had any desire for before.
I know what you mean. The last five years I have grown up spiritual in Him, growing in my relationship with Him and I have a thirst for more than I ever had in all my years as a Christian. It is hard to stay focused sometimes but He always sends a reminder that helps us get back on track. Thank you for sharing.
I love this, I think my family, my community and my faith have had the strongest influence on my morals!
Thank you for sharing 🙂
I enjoyed reading your post; it made me stop to reevaluate where I am and where I choose to go.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi, I love reading your post. My family, my religion, and my experience have influenced the setting of moral compass. Thank you for sharing and meeting you again.
Thank you for sharing! It can be so difficult at times to keep our moral compass where it needs to be! This was a good reminder!