Di Bassinga Diaries: Principles

prin·ci·ple (/ˈprinsəp(ə)l/)

A fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning

(Oxford Languages)

What we resort to when there's a decision to be made

(Di Bassinga)

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God's principles are greater than my feelings.

This statement is an ideal; I can’t say that I live up to it all the time, but I’ve run into it countless times and it’s certainly an ideal to aspire to. It’s an idea that’s implicitly brought up in John 14: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments…Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” I used to struggle a lot with the concept of love and commandments. At first glance it feels very dictatorial. As I’ve grown in my relationship with the Lord, though, these verses have come to make more sense. At their core, they’re relational verses. God's not guilt-tripping us, He's laying out a basic truth.

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Principles are the foundation on which we live our lives. We obviously find many to stand on in the Bible, but how often do we truly stand on them? Do we even know they exist? Every time we lie, worry, cheat, neglect to read/pray (just to name a few) we make the choice to act against what's taught as right, godly conduct—God's principles for us. I don't write as one who is perfect and wholly above reproach—the Spirit is constantly working in me, though—rather as one who has made choices on both sides of the coin.

First and foremost should always be Christ; we need relationship with Him (and He desires relationship with us). As we spend time with Him (i.e., abide) we will find, or at least should find, our hearts changing—the work of the Spirit in us. As we abide we learn, we grow in knowledge and understanding of the Word, and as we grow in these the way we live our lives changes, it has to. If not, we build tension and cause unnecessary pain and suffering. The more we know, the more responsibility we have to act accordingly. It is also true that we have a responsibility to seek and gain knowledge and wisdom. If comfort and a smooth ride is what you're looking for, this might feel more like prison; if it's stronger relationship with God, and a reward to come, then we ought to take on God's principles as our own, we must impose them upon ourselves.

Rules vs. Responses

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:2)

Why bother with this in the first place? Principles, as I understand them, are more like a compass than a law. I could just as much be talking about responses, switching that in for principles. This, though, is something that I think comes in waves; to liken principles to responses makes great sense when things are going well, while we're on our "spiritual highs” and feeling connected to God. But none of us exists in those spaces 100 percent of the time. This walk can often feel mundane or difficult; in times like those, these rules and principles become a compass: they tell us where North is, but they—on their own—won't impose that direction on us, nor even pleasantly entice us to that direction. They simply inform us of the right way to go. We have a choice in whether we follow.

Picture this walk with God as a ride in a car capable of perfect self-driving; the destination and directions are set, but we can choose to override the system and take control ourselves at any point. The journey would be simplest if once we got in the car (gave our lives to Jesus), we allowed the system (the Holy Spirit) to take control. But we're very prone to taking the wheel ourselves (we have the option after all). Ideally, we'd recognize when this happens and we'd release control, but many have turned the warning system into our favorite song. So we drive, often attempting to follow the GPS from memory and often missing exits left and right—it's as if we are driving in the dark with headlights off on a route that we've never been on. Many of us will notice a missed exit, turn our focus back on the GPS, and return to the highlighted route or continue on the rerouted directions, at least for a while. We can just as easily, though, either from fear or pride or simple ignorance, ignore the GPS and the signals (maybe we've muted them) and we chug along on our own "intuition.”

Maybe that slides on a short, familiar journey like brushing your teeth in the morning. But in a life full of twists and turns (the vast majority of which we're experiencing for the first time) and a destination which the vast majority of us have never been to and will only see once (the answer there is "death"), we're likely to miss the mark (that's sin)—it's in our “fallen nature” to do so, especially if we haven't built the habit of "starving the flesh" (that's Christianese for shutting down temptations). By the grace of God, though, those of us who've committed to walk on the path laid for us as well as we can (and this capacity grows over time through “sanctification,” a process of healing and rewiring), that is developed a genuine belief in Jesus Christ and confessed Him as Lord and Savior, will arrive in Heaven (see Romans 10:9-13).

I ask again, then, why bother with these "principles"? And I respond, because until we get to Heaven we have a job to do and a reward to build up. When we aren't feeling super “spiritual," we can rely on what's at the foundation, what we’ve deemed to be most important. The more we acknowledge the principles set before us in Scripture, the more we submit to them—when things are well and easy, but especially when they're not—the better off we and those around us will be.

Be blessed.

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Verses to Look Back On:

Genesis 1:28

Exodus 20

Joshua 1:9

Psalm 37:23-24

Proverbs 1:7

John 3:16-18, 14:15-17, 15:10-11

Romans 10:9-13, 12:9-21; 13:8-14

Ephesians 2:8-10

Colossians 3:1-17

I could keep going...read your Bible :)