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
Maybe if more people took time to set their moral compass, the world would be a better place.
I think that today, there are a lot of distractions. Turning to family and friends, who love you can be a good thing in setting your moral compass. 🙂 They can point you to the right direction 🙂
I think the sad thing is that too few people in this world have a moral compass. xx
It is definately easy to become swayed, even with a grounding when growing up. I have grown up in the church so that certainly set me on a set path, but as you get older it is easy to let distractions come into play. Staying focused is easier said than done sometimes.
You are right staying focused is easier said than done. In my experience over the last few years I have become more aware of God’s refocusing me. When something at work is bothering me to the point I start letting it sway me. There it is a Bible verse or inspirational spanking on my Facebook wall. Or I just need to hear the same message from Him, there it is one song after another on the radio station. God is passionately pursuing us, we just need to open our eye to see the pursuit. Thank you for sharing.
AMEN to this!! We need to seek God’s Heart and embed it in ours… I love the scriptures you chose to use for this beautiful and important message!!
This is one of my favorite verses of reminder. Thank you for sharing.
I feel like I have a pretty high set of morals, and that is dictated soley by what I feel is right and just, not by what others (the community, a church, etc) says is so. I think when you allow yourself to be guided by what YOU think is right your convictions are more solid and it’s easier to make judgements.
This world would be a lot better place if more people would place their morals on a higher setting, but unfortunately there are a lot who have no settings at all. Kind a like rebels without a cause. Thank you for stopping by and sharing.
Crisi! Except for the number of years my compass swayed, we could be writing the same story. The common bond/denominator/thread – whatever we might call it is simply a bloodline that goes back to an event in a garden. One that required the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. Keeping our compass set on Jesus, we need to avoid the “magnetic fields” that would pull us away from true North. Thanks for this poignant reminder.
I love how you worded this. It is so true, it all started in the garden and that sacrifice was Jesus, Praise the Lord he nailed our sins to that cross. Thank you for stopping by and sharing.
The world is a scary place. As sad as it is, I think more people need to have a moral compass. Keep up the inspirational posts.
I agree it is, as a nation we are more and more desensitized in every day life that some have no idea what a moral compass even is. Thank you for sharing.
I live my life according to my own morals, which is treating ALL people with respect and dignity. I believe this is what God intends for us, but unfortunately, many people representing God in the church do not. I am glad you are able to reflect and share your ideas and morals.
I believe people have their moral compass set early in life. Their upbringing has a lot to do with it. You learn what is acceptable from family. I feel you should always treat people the way you’d like to be treated.
My moral compass is based on my personal principles of justice and fairness.
As a child, I believe your parents “set-up” your moral compass so to speak. And as you grow, the people you interact with, and your life experiences shape it into your own and make it personal. At least this is how I fell it was formed for me.
I believe we come prepackaged with a moral compass (a conscience or inherent understanding of what feels right or wrong) that becomes adulterated as we grow older and venture further and further into the world. The world at large, parents, family, friends and faith all affect it.
I find placing God in the center of my life, helps me keep things in perspective and not to worry. I still worry and I still get caught up in silly things sometimes, but I always know He is in control and how to get back to that center. Great reminder.
It seams we had part of this message in church a few weeks ago, based on laws of principals and then moral laws. It was really a good topic. Thanks for sharing your story. I am sure we all have had times when we needed to make a few checks in our lives.