Why we should live by a Moral Code

Moral Code

Why we should live by a Moral Code

Mary Kay Elsner

Grand Canyon University

A moral code is defined by the dictionary as, “the quality of being in accord with standards of right conduct (Collins, 2013). My question is who decides what is right conduct? My answer would be the one with the most money or the biggest army. A moral code should be quite simple, one of the most respected thinkers ever to live in my opinion, Albert Einstein says, “If you can’t explain it simply then you don’t understand it.” He states this about anything someone tries to explain. It seems that the topic of a moral code is anything but simple to explain, does this mean, as humans we do not truly understand it?

In my opinion I think it is important to live justly, honestly, kindly, and in the open. Is this a moral code? To me personally it is my moral code. I would like to think that the way I live my life today is pleasing to my God and to the community in which I live in. I think people who break the law and find discord with others are not honoring or living by the moral code that God, Himself instilled in every human being He created. I have a hard time arguing about morals today because my life has undergone such a drastic change within the last four years. I am a survivor of a drug overdose, I died. I came back to live after 57 seconds and a conversation with a dead friend and the Archangel Michael. Morals are simple, be nice, do not cause harm and respect one another.

Simply stated, as humans it is important to live by a set of morals in order to have a peaceful existence with one another. There are billions of people on this planet and if we all did not have rules or a sense of what respecting one another was we would be extinct by now. I truly believe we can take a great lesson from Sodom and Gomorrah; these two cities had no sense of morals and were destroyed. If we, as a race of human beings, had no set of moral codes to follow left to our own divisiveness, we would all be separated from one another. Morals, once defined and agreed upon, are almost as valuable as the air we breathe and the water which sustains our very lives. Murder, theft and abuse are not moral codes to live by and yet we have criminals in our midst. Addiction kills thousands of people every year and mental illness has caused mass shootings in public places, where innocent people are slain. A moral code is the best defense we have against this kind of darkness. I am a believer in the grace and love of Jesus Christ, and I feel if more people sought a relationship with Him, we would have a race of human beings, living by a moral code which was designed to give us a happy existence. Jeremiah 29:11 states, “ 11 for I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (NIV). This one statement defines God’s plan for us, to prosper! What more of a reason would a person need to live a moral life and follow God’s example?

A moral life comes with rules; the Bible is full of them. 10 commandments God gave us to follow, not 100, not 1000 but 10. If a moral code is needed and we want to keep it simple, I truly believe following those 10 commandments would make the world a much better place. Now for the non Christian a set of commandments setup to align with the person’s faith may be needed. For example, the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, are right in line with the Quran, which is the sacred book of the Muslim world. A universal moral code can be found and achieved as soon as we as humans understand each human wants a happy and peaceful life. In order for us to prosper as a race we need to be united on the definition of moral, this is the first barrier which must be overcome.

In short, morals are important to this world as a whole. Having a belief in a power greater than you is needed to respect and love one another. Therefore, a moral code is needed so we have a way of living which is easy to follow and prosperous for us spiritually and physically. Existence in this world can be a very enjoyable journey if we find out what we believe, define it and then live by it. This is why a moral code is so important for us to define and then align our actions with.

References

Clark, K. J., & Poortenga, A. (2003). The story of ethics fulfilling our human nature. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

(2013). Dictionary. (2nd ed.). Harper Collins.