Romans 13:1-7 (1)"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." (2)"Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation." (3)"For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same:" (4)"For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." (5)"Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake." (6)"For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing." (7)"Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour."
These verses speak of the authority that God has set up in each person's life. We are to submit to that authority. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who do not submit to authority. Oh yes....they might submit to parental, pastoral, government and God's authority to SOME degree but I know that we all have areas of authority that we don't submit completely in. I'd like to say that I do but I know I don't. My desire is to do better in this area of my life.
The area I want to talk about in this post is this area of teenagers in their submission to authority. I know how I was when I was a teenager. I did not submit to authority at all. I wanted my parents to think I was. And I thought that I had them fooled. I would tell them I would do something...then I would not do it or if I did it wasn't done right. Where I lived and the kind of friends I kept...it wasn't COOL to respect authority. There were consequences to my actions though...but only when I got caught. I did not know the Lord at that time in my life. Had I known the Lord then I would have done differently. And since being saved as an adult I have gone back and gotten forgiveness from my parents for being so deceptive and disobedient to them. The sad thing is there are saved teenagers today that are being deceptive and disobedient to their parents, pastors and also to God. Let me tell you something teenager...you think you are getting away with things but trust me...you aren't.
Proverbs 15:3 "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good."
I always thought I was getting away with things but found out later that my parents usually found out from someone who saw me that I wasn't where I said I was or doing what I said I would be doing. Trust me...your parents know more than you think they do. And if your parents don't know...God does!!! God sees everything. If you are His child then you can rest assured that you will be disciplined. It does not pay to go against authority. That includes obeying His Word. The King James Bible is our final authority!! God says what He means and He means what He says. There are no gray areas with God. Either things are right or they are wrong. I also know of teenagers that go against authority with government. That means the laws of the land. We must obey the laws of the land. That means ALL laws. How about in the authority of pastoral proportions? When you pastor asks you to do something do you do it? If he says not to do something....do you obey? It doesn't matter what it is...you should respect his authority and adhere to his requests.
These areas in our lives are areas that God set up authority in for our good. The sooner we realize that He put them there for our good the better off we'll be.
30 comments:
Hi!!!
I am back on the net!!! Love the new layout of your blog very neat!
Ginger
ginger....Praise the Lord!! I know you have to be happy to be back online. You were missed!!
Wow! This is an area that is really hard for me sometimes with some types of authority! I know that I need to do better and I thank you so much for this post and the reminder of that!
PS would you stop by my blog and read the latest post 'support needed' as I have a favor that I am asking of my blogging friends!
Well, it's kind of funny you would post this today. Hubby told me just the other day that I was stubborn on certain matters when it comes to someone being in authority over me. Hmmm, you reckon the Lord is trying to tell me something?
~Kristi
sis. cindy...I think it is hard for all of us in some areas of authority. I'll go to your site now and read the post.
sis. kristi....Hmmmm...could be. But I took it as the Lord trying to tell me something too when He put it on my heart.
Proverbs 15:3 says it all! God is watching your every move! Thanks for the reminder!
sis. sandy...Amen!!!
I know several teens doing just this right now.
On the pastoral authority thing, the pastor has authority but not in everything. Like, he cannot command how a home is to be run, because God gives that responsibility to the husband. I know of people that had to leave churches because the pastor usurped his position of authority and told the father that he couldn't home school his children, that he must put them in the church school. The father firmly believed church schools were wrong. Yes we must submit to all authority, including our pastors, and it is also the job of authorities to not usurp authority where they have no business doing so.
By the way, I think it's interesting that we both wrote about an aspect of authority today.
katy-anne...you are so right about those that usurp authority that have no right to do so. I too know pastors who demand to control the church, its members and its members' families and their homes. That is not biblical. The pastor does have control over the church as led by the Lord. What came to mind when I was doing this post was....for instance....the pastor can tell the members to not eat or drink in the sanctuary. This something that my husband has had to enforce. Reason being is because the sanctuary is a holy place...not a place for eating food or for drinking cokes and such. So when the pastor requests such things then the members should respect those wishes and not do it. That is just one for instance though.
katy-anne...I didn't realize you had done a post on that subject today. I'm not feeling well at all today and I'm not sure I'll get blogs read today...but I will be sure to go by and read your post when I can.
Amen Mrs Julie I back this post 100 percent. I really hope our young people would truly see what God thinks when they buck the authority he has set up it really can lead to destruction if they are not careful.
Bro Tim
bro. tim....its true that young people don't think about the consequences of living in rebellion against authority.
One thing that has always helped me even when I was young to respect my Pastor's authority over me was the fact that he has to give an account of me to the Lord. I don't know somehow that just made me to want to do right even more. Maybe it will help someone else.We all want a good report given about us to others and that is especially true of the Lord. connie from Texas
sis. connie....you are so right. I want a good report too.
Did you get my long comment about courtship and authority, or did it never show up? I don't mind if you don't want to answer it on here, but I would be curious if you had some input on what to teach children about if the other persons parents don't believe in courtship.
katy-anne....I never got a comment from you about that. I know that sometimes comments don't go through. All comments left on my site come to my email box and I haven't gotten one from you regarding this. I will try to put a post together on that subject though. Just bear with me....I'm not feeling well right now. Once I'm doing well enough to get it together I'll put it up for you.
Lol ok it was a REALLY long comment too haha. Like almost a short novel I think lol. My husband and I don't believe in courtship quite as strongly as you do, but we don't believe in dating either. We believe that a young man ought only ever to ask one girl to be his girlfriend, and not to ask that girl to be his girlfriend until he knows he wants to marry her. That is what my husband did for me. It was a covenant already. At this stage we believe holding hands is ok but are beginning to question it. We also want to teach our son that he ought to work hard while he is young, buy some land and build a house for his future wife. Our pastor did that and his wife has so much that my husband wishes he could offer me (of course I don't hold that against him, neither of us knew about how wonderful it was till we met our pastor).
But some parents like mine are violently opposed to any courtship model at all and my dad asked me to do one thing for him...and that was to not court as strictly as we would have liked. I did it for him out of respect. We did have supervision in our relationship though, just not while we were out together because lol he was in Australia and I was too of course and nobody around me believed in chaperoning and we don't fully believe in it, but sometimes. We will probably change a little though as our beliefs in this area are being challenged.
Anyway I read all your courtship posts yesterday and that is what prompted all of this haha. I hope you get this comment.
katy-anne....as you can see I got your comment this time. I will deal with all your questions and comments in the next few days. Thank you for inquiring. I'll be glad to answer your concerns and questions. Although I believe I answered as well as I knew how in my "Courtship vs. Dating" posts.
Maybe I missed something. :-D With this baby due any day my attention span is not what it used to be lol.
There are many areas where I fail to submit to authority, I want to get this right too.
I have no experience with teenagers, though I have seen teenagers round and about who obviously don't submit to authority. I wasn't too bad as a teenager, though I certainly didn't live up to God's standards!
Blessings.
p.s. Mrs B has done a wonderful job, your blog looks just lovely.
sis. sarah....I think Mrs. B did a wonderful job as well. I'm getting lots of compliments on it.
Sis Julie, praying for you to get better. God bless.
bro. jerry...thank you so much!! I'm doing better just can't sit at the computer for too long right now. I'll be back online and posting again on Monday.
I find it easy to be under my husband. I think it's because we are best of friends as well as husband and wife. To be friends with your husband, I think, really does work better in the struggle with his authority over us.
sis. theresa....I agree. What a blessing that our husbands can be our friends. I know many couples that don't consider their relationship in that way even though they are friends. What is wrong with saying your husband is your friend anyway? I thank God for my husband who is my friend!!
Good post! The pastoral aspect of it is overlooked many times I think. Many don't realize the truth in what Connie mentioned in her comment. One day the Lord will ask your pastor what type of church member you were, He will have to respond truthfully to God. Will he be able to say I was a blessing the the church and supportive of the ministry or was I a hindrance and critica. Lots to think about here.
Hope you are feeling better.
sis. pam....thank you. I am doing better. I should be back online tomorrow (Monday).
sis. deby....thank you so much. I sure do like it a lot more than the one I had. Mrs. B did an awesome job with it.
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