Ground Rules for Christians:

1. John 2, Vers 15: " Have no love for the world or for the things which are in the world. If any man has love for the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

This verse in the Bible does not mean that we should behave in a hateful way towards everything that is in the world including its people. The sense within this verse is a much deeper one. But in order to explain this, we need to go back to the beginning... 

When God made man and woman, Adam and Eve, and when Eve was seduced by the serpent to eat from the forbidden fruit and also convinced Adam to eat from that fruit, the authority of the world, that has been given to Adam and Eve by the Lord, shifted over to Satan. Satan fooled Eve into believing one simple lie, the one lie he is still using until this day to fool people into believing and serving him: "... surely you will not die... but you will be like God!" With this lie Satan tried to make God look like a liar. Afterwards Adam and Eve had been banned from Eden and Satan, the old serpent was cursed by God until this very day. 

By losing the authority over the world to Satan, sin came over it (through the devil himself, who personifies all sin) and the world was also cursed by the Lord. With the above mentioned verse the Lord means, that you shall not copy the shallowness, the "empty" desires of people and live out the lusts of the flesh as these are not from God. God made the world and everything in it, but the authority for everything lies with Satan. This is also shown in the new Testament when Jesus is wandering around the desert for 40 days and Satan tries to seduce him - Matthew 4, Vers 8: "Again the evil one took him up to a very high mountain, and let him see all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to him, all these things will I give to you, if you will go down on your face and give me worship. Then said Jesus to him, away Satan: for it is in the writings, give worship to the Lord your God and be his servant only." 

The world itself is evil, however we manage to find some good in it, as God has not forsaken us. Surround yourself with spiritual, encouraging and positive people, who share the Love of Christ. If you surround yourself with the truth, the temptations of the world will become smaller and smaller every day. 

Matthew 5, Vers 48: "Be then complete in righteousness, even as your Father in heaven is complete."

1. John 1, Vers 8-10: "If we say that we have no sin, we are false to ourselves and there is nothing true in us. If we say openly that we have done wrong, he is upright and true to his word, giving us forgiveness of sins and making us clean from all evil. If we say that we have no sin, we make him false and his word is not in us."

Jesus gave us an example of how to live as a Christian in this world. Every human is a sinner - EVERYONE. There are no exceptions. There is no human in this world that has never lied, betrayed or spoken evil. Murder and brutality is not the only sin a human can do. Jesus was innocent and absolutely free from any sin and God wants us to live just as free from sin. God knows exactly what is happening in the world. It would also be a lie to say that it is very easy to live a holy life and give up bad habits from today to tomorrow, but this is necessary in order to maintain a relationship with the Lord and to keep his commandments. You will also notice very quickly, that a life lived in "holiness" portrays a very happy and satisfying life. To give you a survey of what is wrong according to God's word, here is a short listing:

Worship of pagan Gods, cursing, blasphemy, stealing, jealousy, lying, betrayal, gambling (lottery, poker, slots etc.), smoking (cannabis, cigars etc.), drugs, excessive alcohol drinking, parties and clubbing (a club is the playground of the devil), sensual dancing, blasphemic music / music of the devil (music that mocks God and praises the devil), murder, hatred, wrath, greed, wars, strife, witchcraft, occultism, hydromancy, hypnosis, movies and TV shows that glorify the works of the devil, white and black magic, parapsychology, spells, potions, curses, horoscopes, wicca, meditation that contradicts the Bible, Yoga, demonic healing methods like accupuncture, clairvoyance, channeling, astral projection, adultery, fornication, sexual immorality like rape and sex with children and/or animals, homosexuality, pornography and suicide. 

In these verses you can read up on sin in your Bible:

1. Corinthian 6, Vers 9-10

Romans 1, Vers 24-27

Romans 1, Vers 29-32

Galatians 5, Vers 19-21

Revelations 21, Vers 8

2. Corinthian 12, Vers 20

Ephesians 5, Vers 3

1. Peter 4, Vers 3

These sins are probably the most famous sins in this world, but still not everyone is taking them seriously. But there is a reason why they are called "deadly" sins. Please make sure, that you do not get fooled into acting according to any of those sins and let them become part of your personality. Our God is a very great and graceful God. If you repent in your heart and you are absolutely sorry for your mistakes and ask the Lord from your heart to forgive you and see to it that you will not repeat those sins again the Lord will forgive you - because he loves you! He does not want you to be punished and burn in hellfire forever. 

These are the seven deadly sins (or also known as "bad characteristics"):

1. Superbia - Arrogance (Vanity, Mischief) 

2. Avaritia - Greed (Voracity)

3. Luxuria - Lust (Debauchery, Hedonism, Desire) 

4. Ira - Wrath (Anger, Hatred, Revenge)

5. Gula - Gluttony (Exorbitance, Egoism)

6. Invidia - Envy (Jealousy, Resentment)

7. Acedia - Sloth (Cowardice, Ignorance, Idleness of the Heart)  

We are very aware of the fact, that after this flood of information you might just be a little uncertain. Apart from that you might think, that you are "only" a human, how on earth is it possible to live up to the Lord's expectations? But we are here to tell you that it is actually very easy. Just make it a part of your every day life to read the Bible at least 2 or 3 chapters. Ask God for advice if you feel you can't move on and are stuck in a moment. But most importantly, if you should notice that you find it hard to do certain things, ask Jesus for help. And he will help you, there is no doubt in that. He will never fail you, never. 

Many people that we know have been able to break bad habits with the help of Jesus Christ, from one moment to the other. No matter if it was smoking, drinking or any negative behaviour. With God's help everyone was able to stop doing the things that were condemnable in God's eyes. And you can do exactly that. Have trust and faith in the Lord and you will notice and see small and big miracles in your own life. 

Some habits may have become a part of your personality which makes it harder for you to give them up or break them, habits that aren't good of course. Although it is harder to give those habits up, it is still not impossible. Just make sure to focus on the little/big positive things in your daily life, like grace of charity, respect and understanding for one another. It is like training which allows you to "bathe" in the Lord's presence more and more. You will see very quickly that by simply changing how you treat others you will be able to change entire situations. Jesus himself gave us two more commandments to keep while he was on earth: John 15, Vers 9-17: "Even as the Father has given me his love, so I have given my love to you, be ever in my love. If you keep my laws you will be ever in my love, even as I have kept my father's laws and am ever in his love. I have said these things to you so that I may have joy in you and so that your joy may be complete. This is the law I give to you: have love for one another, even as I have love for you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man gives up his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I give you orders to do. No longer do I give you the name of servants; because a servant is without knowledge of what his master is doing: I give you the name of friends, because I have given you knowledge of all the things which my father has said to me. You did not take me for yourselves, but I took you for myself; and I gave you the work of going about whatever request you make to the father in my name he may give it to you. So this is my law for you: Have love for one another!"

Next to the law of loving one another, Jesus also told us to love our neighbor as we do love ourselves. Romans 13, Vers 9: "And this, do not be untrue in married life, do not put to death, do not take what is another's, do not have desire for what is another's and if there is any other order, it is covered by this word, have love for your neighor as for yourself."

God wants to tell us that it is absolutely necessary to love ourselves. There truly is a big difference between a healthy love for yourself and egoism and arrogance. Be good to yourself, be good to your neighbor. God wants us to live in a loving and harmonic companionship with one another. He does not want us to fight, hate each other, hurt each other and seek revenge. Those are all seductions coming from the devil and those sins are atrocities to the Lord. 

Nowadays the term "lawless" is being used a lot and people like to adjust it to their own interpretation. In the biblical sense "lawlessness" has only one meaning and it already contains its own description "the one without the law (Torah)". He whoever lives without the law of God, His commandements and instructions is indeed lawless. Those people find it very easy to commit sin and do terrible things as they don't really know whether they're doing the right thing or not. They simply do what they want.

But there are also people that call themselves Christians and actually do know the Bible, even walk around spreading the Word of God and healing the sick and do other supernatural things through the Holy Spirit, but still live lawlessly. How come? Very simple: when people actually lead a double life. Those are the people that Jesus warned us about - and he told us the consequences that will happen to those who live lawlessly.

It is not just about knowing the Bible and to tell some people about Jesus. Those things are important yes but they are just the surface. Things that don't really built up an intense relationship to Jesus. He whoever preaches one thing but actually practices something else, is still lawless even though he is faithful. Always keep in mind that God sees everything.

You will always recoginze a true Christian by how he treats others and by how he or she lives his or her life, just like Jesus said - by their fruit. Do not be fooled by lukewarm Christians, but surround yourself with people who burn for Christ so much, that the spark practically jumps over to you. Those people will never lie to you or show, tell and preach things that aren't true.

Malachi Chapter 3, Vers 16-18: "¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. ¹⁷ “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸ And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not."