The NIV 365-Day Devotional Reading PlanSample

Morality Is Good

Why do we have this feeling in our guts that we should behave a certain way?

Read

God’s good heart is reflected in morality — in good actions. Because God is good, he wants us to live fulfilling lives. So he gave us principles in his Word to tell us what’s good and right and how to live according to what is good and right. “[God] has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

Think

God’s commands are one of his greatest gifts to us. In our broken world we needed a way that would lead us back toward wholeness and goodness, and away from pain and evil. God — because he is good, because he knows the way to goodness and because he wants us to live in that goodness — gave us that guidance in his laws.

Think about what our society would look like if it didn’t follow God’s laws in any way. The weak would always get stomped on by the strong. We would be in constant defense of ourselves and our possessions. People would lie, and we’d never know what the truth was. But following God’s laws creates a safe place to live. People are protected. We can rest and relax under the covering of goodness that obedience provides.

God doesn’t want us to obey him just for the sake of obedience. Our right actions lead us toward goodness and steer us away from pain and evil. That doesn’t mean we won’t experience hard things or that we’ll never feel uncomfortable — we do, after all, live in a fallen world. But obedience guides us away from paths that lead to destruction. And that’s a good thing.

Live

Don’t look at God’s laws as hoops for you to jump through. They are a gift from God to you. They’re guides to goodness. They’re given to you from the heart of the God who wants you to experience the most freedom, the most joy, the most peace, the most safety and the most love possible. That’s how much he loves you.

Taken from NIV The Great Rescue Bible