Rules or Relationship?

By Dr. Ron Jones

The other day, my daughter came home from school slightly annoyed. Apparently her eighth grade English teacher issued a new list of classroom rules two pages long. The list was meant to correct what the teacher said was chronic bad behavior among all her students. Hmmm.

Reminds me of the Pharisees in Jesus's day who believed the road to righteousness was paved with a long list of rules. Some estimate they added more than 600 to the Law of Moses. Jesus said, "Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20).

A tedious list of dos and don'ts never moves the human heart closer to God. It rarely works in the classroom either.

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