Love, free will and the consequences of no consequences

If you google “consequences of no consequences,” you get a lot of discussion about child discipline. I read “Giving children all love and support with no consequences and boundaries, leads to behaviour issues,” and  “Implementing consequences helps children gain a real understanding of how the world works.”  But is not just about  children.  It seems to be part of human nature that if we can get away with something we will. The Bible puts it this way “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong” (Ecclesiastes 8:11).  I'm thinking genocide in the extreme, but also about enabling, you know when the wife for example, lies to cover her husband's drunkenness, shielding him from the consequences. It's not good for anyone!  

Nobody likes to think of themselves as a villain! However, shortly after conversion, the Lord showed me that most of my “goodness” was trained into me as a way of avoiding consequences. I have also discovered that many believers have very little understanding of the evil of which, given the right circumstances, we are all capable of committing. As the Ecclesiastes reference indicates, it's a heart matter. The Bible again “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9)?  Consider this, if the Bible is true and you don't know this about your heart, could it be that you are deceived?  And could be that part of the offence of the cross is that your situation and mine is so dire, that the only way to rescue us is through the substantiation death of the perfect Son of God (Galatians 2:20)?

Enter the school of hard knocks, the positive lessons we learn from difficult circumstances, and from the consequences of bad choices (Galatians 6:7). I say positive lessons because the default it to blame (Genesis 3:12).  We are free to choose not to obey the commandments, but we are not free from the consequences. As a young man I knew my wild lifestyle was wrong, I didn't care, until I did. I came to my bottom, came out of denial, turned, repented and was saved. Today, because of persistent propaganda over the last fifty years, many do not know right from wrong (Jonah 4:11). It's amazing to me, as Jordon Peterson reports, that saying we need to take responsibility for our lives is something of a revelation to our culture!

But why did the Lord risk it all by giving us free will? It seems to be about love. And love cannot be love, if there's no choice. We would be robots! If there's no possibility of saying no, choice is meaningless. And the possibility of our “no,” makes our “yes” significant. In His love then, He allows the real possibility of “no,” and warns of the consequences. But in His love, after we have come to our senses because of the pain of our “no” (Luke 15:17), He makes it possible, at incredible cost so Himself,  for us to return to “yes” (1 Peter 3:18; John 3:16).

Father, I learned the hard way that if there were no consequences to my 'no,' I'd likely have ridden off into the sunset! I've also learned to value righteousness, for its fruit is a tree of life (Proverbs 11:30).  As You make clear in the great commandment (Mark 12:30), our 'yes' is a choice to love and be loved.  Please quiet and settle me again with Your love Lord (Zephaniah 3:17) in Jesus Name Amen