Am I Cheating on God?

What does that even mean? Am I cheating on God? Are we skipping our spiritual leg day? Or did we turn the holy cheat meal into a cheat day? Did we give a flirty wink to the waitress when we were in a relationship? Confused yet? Don’t worry because I am your pilot through the insanity. 

Okay, worry a little bit.

Today we will look at 3 metaphors with parallels in our Christian walk.

Are We Being Faithful?

Everyone remembers the honeymoon period of a relationship. Daily talks, finding new ways to impress them, and our undivided attention. We chose to nurture the bond. Most importantly, we decide to be exclusive. 

Which means that we put no other person ahead of our significant other. Being faithful to the other person means we retire from flirtation and stop rubbernecking. In our commitment, we desire to learn all about them. And there is no way I’m going to flirt with someone else. I’ve seen movies. It never goes well. 

Plus all those scorned, killers caught, and unsolved murder television series people (women, you know who I’m talking about) watch terrifies me.

So, if we are willing to remain faithful to a person, why shouldn’t we do the same to God?

What are we putting before God? 1 of the 10 commandments clearly tells us that the Lord should come 1st in our lives. 

How many of us can safely and confidently say that God comes first?

There is a reason the Bible says, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”

Are we being faithful?

How Can I Skip Out on God?

You know those first 6 weeks of exercise are really frustrating. You have to be determined with unshakable willpower. Why? Because it takes several weeks before we start to feel the difference. And heaven knows it takes those first 6 weeks in order to see the gains in the mirror. 

But once we see the curve of newly formed muscle peeking from our body, we find renewed zeal. The weights and resistance bands we began with are easier to wield in our battle for health and beauty. 

12 weeks in and now we are hooked. We see what was impossible become a reality. Devotion to our new routine and a choice to not go back to who we used to be spur us forward. 

Quit exercise? 

Miss a day of workouts? 

You must be out of your mind. 

Now if we refuse to miss our workouts and exercise, why do we allow ourselves to miss our spiritual workouts?

What am I talking about?

What do jogging and lifting weights have to do with my walk with God?

I’m so glad you asked.

Have you ever run a marathon? No? We neither. What about sports? I was a football player back in yonder year. And yes, there was football when I was a kid. (That is a question my children love to ask … along with how was it living with dinosaurs.) Anyway, when you play sports you have to practice and build your stamina.

It is exactly the same as our walk. Believe it or not, the Bible refers to our Christianity as a race. If you sprint like a madman then you won’t make it, especially without conditioning. And if you leisurely stroll toward the finish line you will not win and the race may end before you cross the finish line. 

Every day we practice our faith by walking out our salvation and practicing what we preach.

Am I Cheating on God?

You ever do that awful grapefruit diet? I did, as a kid, for about 1 meal. I hate grapefruit. Obviously, I didn’t do my homework on the fad diet. Or those rice cake things which looked, sounded, and tasted exactly like styrofoam? Actually, I think styrofoam has more flavor. 

They both have similar effects on the human body. Eventual death. Let’s move on.

We have a no-meat diet. The only meat diet. Only fruit. Only veggies. The infamous seafood diet (that one is a diet my kids would prefer. See food and eat it). No carbs. No sugar. And on and on and on. Sooo many diets. 

Some people go on diets for a healthier lifestyle. Others go on diets for temporary periods of time. Even more people go on diets that are recommended for health reasons. 

When a person goes on a diet and is serious and devoted to it, they walk that line and refuse to deviate. Perhaps it has to do with blood sugar. Or maybe they want to change their appearance. Or to feel better. 

Because they want the results a diet brings. They will not cheat and risk destroying an entire week just for a single food that they know is bad for them. 

But why do we cheat on our Christian lifestyle?

There are things we remove from our lives because they are not good for us. It’s unhealthy. And it can destroy all the work we have done.

Why cheat on God then?

Final Thoughts

In our earthly lives, there are things we choose to follow without variation, without deviation, and without compromising our standards, goals, or relationships.

Maybe our fickleness is due to the fact we know our heavenly Father loves us unconditionally and will forgive us. Or maybe our relationship with God isn’t as important as we may say. 

In the end, we face an internal decision. Are we willing to toe the line and walk the narrow path or are we comfortable being Sunday Christians? Do we want to commit to God and be faithful? Will we walk the walk and not just be a “hearer” of the word? Can we turn our back on things unhealthy in our relationship with the Lord?

Why don’t we treat our walk with God by the same standards as our earthly life? If we are afraid of our significant other reacting unfavorably, why expect God to give us a pass? If we want to change our physical health and well-being by exercising and cutting unhealthy foods from our diet, why can’t we choose our spiritual health?

So, the question ultimately is this.

Are we cheaters? Or are we faithful?