rules

            I am a rule follower…in general.  I believe most people have rules they stick to pretty tightly but we also have those rules we feel are a little bendable.  For instance, the 65 mph speed limit on the toll way; I very rarely see anyone following that rule.  There are certain rules that when broken annoy me greatly, like people who leave shopping carts in parking spots. Then there is the personal space rule, please allow me my personal space or I get a bit testy.  Some rules boil down to bureaucracy and they can exasperate us too.

            I was thinking about what makes me choose to follow the rules I do, as tightly as I do.  The conclusion I came to is that the foundation of my beliefs boil down to loving God and loving others. If a rule can trace back to either of those two, I can stand behind it, even gravitate to it.  Putting a shopping cart back in the cart return demonstrates love to others by leaving an available parking space open for the next shopper.  Another word for it is, respect.  Regardless of my emotional consideration of rules, ultimately, God asks us to follow the rules put forth by the leaders of the land.  The only exception is rules that might violate God’s rules.  We are to be good citizens, good employees, and good people.

            Romans 12:18 “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
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  1. harleyJanuary 30, 2012 at 1:08 PM

    Once again we are on the same page. Earlier this morning I was going to send a personal email to someone's work account and stopped myself at the last minute reminding myself that I have a policy against doing that. Being poor and not being able to afford a computer is no excuse, because most cities (even small ones) have libraries and these libraries have computers for the public to use and hotmail.com is free. I wouldn't a rep of the company I work for stopping at my home to use my computer just because they were in the neighborhood and it's convenient. The golden rule applies and neither should I use their's for a non business purpose.

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