Respect the rule book

It is my opinion that a particular team that shall remain nameless lost their match due wholly to a serious lack of discipline and respect for the rules of soccer and not necessarily because they were out played. In the end however, I feel the better team did win.

Lack of discipline does not only plague sports teams. It affects us in our office environment as well. It is often the case that certain people drag a team down with negative behaviour and in the end everyone suffers.

Likewise our spiritual lives can be plagued with undisciplined behaviour. I do hear you say, “ but I thought God was all about grace?” Yes, God in His mercy shows us grace and forgiveness in our times of failure, but He will never divorce this from the consequences of our bad behaviour. If you have committed a criminal act, you will still need to face the law.

So how do we balance grace and law? By remembering the price that Jesus paid for our salvation and responding in gratitude by living our lives according to God's principles. If you know in your heart that this is an area in which you have transgressed, then remember this too. God will forgive you when you confess your sins to Him, so step up to the throne of grace and receive your forgiveness and remember Jesus words to the women caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.”