when it comes to compromise...

generally, as humans, we always want to take the easy road out, or do what we want, even when we know its exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. such as, compromising our beliefs in God, sacrificing our faith, giving up and doing what the world is doing, what we want to be doing. i think we all do that, but we should try harder not too. i was reading in my bible and i found three key passages all about compromising our relationship with God.

-judges 2:7-13
The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel. Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

the Israelites in this story not only went against the ten commandments, and the first one at that. they did what they wanted to do at the price of their relationship with God. don't get me wrong, sometimes its okay to compromise, like when your having a disagreement with somebody. But it is never okay to compromise what you know is wrong for your own desires. Try to walk with God instead of pushing him away because that first step away from God will take you farther then you ever wanted to be.

the next story- 1 Samuel 8:1-22

This is a story of how the nation of Israel wanted a king to rule over them, a king just like all the other nations had. Simply put, they wanted to fit in. However God made it perfectly clear to them that this so called "king" that they wanted, was not all it was cracked up to be. he wouldn't satisfy their needs. but, of course, they didn't care. God also warned the nation of Israel that they would one day cry out to Him, but He would not answer. God wanted to teach them or discipline them, they had broken the 1st commandment also. Why would God let them go against His will? its because the God i know, always gives us the freedom to choose. besides God knows that He will rule over everyone, every single person. (Matthew 6:9-10 basically it says that GODS kingdom will come, not any other "god" or deity. and not only will HIS kingdom come but His will, His plan, will be carried out. He will rule just as He does in Heaven. that's pretty powerful stuff!)
how often do we do whatever to fit in? like drinking or cussing, smoking and doing drugs, even things so superficial as our clothes, have an affect on our relationship with God, and most of the time its negative. did you ever think that trying to fit in with the rest of the world could compromise your faith? it certainly did in Israels case. one thing to note, when it comes to fitting it with the world and its ungodly trends, check out john 7:7 and john 15:18-19.

and now the third story about Solomon and his wives, 1 kings 11:1-8
this is a story about how king Solomon did what we wanted as well, and as with the other stories going against the 1st commandment. Even though God specifically told Solomon that he was not to marry women from here, there and the other, he still did. and exactly as God warned, all of Solomon's new wives turned his heart toward their gods and way from the Lord. He compromised what he knew and did what he wanted anyways. many times when we compromise our relationship with God we don't just hurt our relationship with Him, but also with those around us. imagine how all of Solomon's wives felt, what his first godly wive felt. Solomon fell into temptation, and i think that's because often when we are told no we go after it. its human nature to want what you cant have.

seeing as we are all humans, and therefor imperfect we will mess up our relationship with God and make bad decisions and compromise our faith, but i think its most important what we learn from those experiences, and how we can turn them around. i think that God wants us to look for that when we mess up, how we can find the good when all we see is bad. i think He wants us to try and learn and do something productive from those compromising situations. that's the first challenge i present to you. turn your compromising situation around for the Glory of God

the second is when you do compromise, admit it to God. tell Him how you are feeling every little detail, spill your heart out to Him. God loves to hear from his children even though He already knows :) and then once you have done that ask God for guidance in the future. mainly the key thing is to talk to God, cause this will re-build your relationship if you will, and help you to start growing in Him again

love
always and forever
gracie