Old Fashioned or Biblical Principles?

Recently I had a very thought provoking discussion with one of my coworkers on morals. She was telling another girl that she can’t blame her daughter if she gets pregnant out of wed-lock, because she did it herself, and hasn’t done much to discourage her daughter from follow in her footsteps. The woman that was telling her this said, “I’m old fashioned. I believe women shouldn’t get pregnant out of wed-lock. That’s just the way I am. My mother was real strict like that too.”

As I began to think about it, I realized that is how most people see morals and standards. They think they are old fashioned, not meant for the modern day that we live in. Are they old fashioned? Should we put them aside and consider them as a thing of the past? Or are they Biblical principles that have been forgotten amongst all the wickedness that is in this world?

There once was a day when a girl was ashamed to be pregnant before marriage. In those days, married couples stayed together because they promised to “love and cherish till death do us part.” Women use to stay home to care after their husband and children. Women use to dress like ladies. There was a time when the thought of killing unborn babies was appalling.

Now it is common for young girls to have several children without even thinking about getting married. Divorce is not considered wrong at all so men and women leave their spouse without even trying to resolve the problem. When you tell others that all you want to be when “you grow up” is a stay at home wife and mother, you get a blank stare. When people see you dressed in skirts on a day other than Sunday or Wednesday they think you are Amish or Mennonites. (I have nothing against those two groups, but I simply am not one of them.) Modern society has accepted abortion, and all those who oppose are considered “to old fashioned.”

Yes, I believe morals and standards are old fashioned. But they are still Biblical principles too. They are still right, and still need to be preached all over the world, but let’s face it, it is not popular to live for God. It is not fashionable. It is not respected. Godly living is not widely practiced anymore.

How did this come about? How can a nation accept the murdering of babies and all the other sins that are going rampant? The devil is smart. He knows just how to squeeze those sins in where people will accept them. If he can get sin into a respected person’s home, no one will say anything because of who the person is. Everyone starts to see that if it is okay for that person, it must be okay for themselves as well. Once a family sees that their daughter has committed an awful sin, they make it seem like a small matter because they don’t want to think that their loved one is wrong. Everyone stops speaking against adultery, divorce, and abortion because they don’t want to offend their family member who is guilty of such iniquities. Slowly, everyone becomes accustomed to these ways.

But just because the majority of the world chooses to live opposite of what God wants doesn’t mean that we can follow them. In fact, it should give us a desire to live for him even more because this world needs to see that there are still some Christians out there who want to live for God. We need to stand up for what we believe. Don’t be ashamed to tell everyone that you want to be a stay at home wife and mother. Don’t let those around you get the impression that you think it is okay to be pregnant out of wed-lock. Even if those in high positions at your church have done wrong, you can’t overlook it as a small matter.

Sin is sin and it will always be sin. It is not fun to be opposing, but if a time comes that we have to say something, we have to say what is right . . . in love. We cannot let godly living become obsolete.

“Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Ephesians 5:10-11