(Gen 11:31 KJV) And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
Isn’t it strange that we refer to someone outside of our immediate family as an ‘in-law’... One assumes that it means someone who is related, through law or some ‘legal’ ceremony and not through blood line.
Through blood we have mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, through law we have in-laws. This separation of family, by law, is by its very nature distancing at the outset. Is there ever any possibility of an ‘in-law’ being embraced fully ‘in love’ by the family?
All legal acts and ceremonies are for society, they have little to do with personal feelings or relationships. The social stigma of being an ‘in-law’ is almost as bad as being an ‘out-law’, either way you are judged and held separate legally.
The problem with imposed law is that it only has the appearance of working, it is the stick that hangs over every child, waiting for them to step out of line, so that it can punish and it rules by fear.
It always fails because the moment the child can slip away from the stick or rightly or wrongly believes that the legal eagles are no longer watching…. It reverts back to its internalised behaviour or worse still, through years of legal repression, swings as far as possible in the opposite direction.
This is known as the law of equal and opposite effect.
A classic example is the speed limit, it is natural to get where you are going as fast as possible unless you are just enjoying the scenery. Being constrained to travel at 50kph when the vehicle you are in can go at 250kpm and the road is empty, is bound to cause problems.
One would like to think that the ‘carrot’ of encouragement has equivalence with love, but it doesn’t. The ‘carrot’ is the coercive alternative way to get children to obey the law.
If you do your chores, I’ll give you a lolly or money. It is little more than bribery. Until the child takes responsibility for itself and its own behaviour it is tossed between these two approaches in an attempt to make it obedient to society’s laws… this has equivalence with the bad cop, good cop routine.
Lasting governance must come from within, it is delusional, egocentric and evil to think that anyone can govern another from without whether using a stick or with a carrot.
The prophet Samuel was angry with the people and refused to nominate a king over them, but at their insistence annointed the little shepherd boy…. David…. Go figure his motive..
People should rule themselves from within by the instincts born into them through inherited life and if their inherited traits have been corrupted, they need to be restored through repentance in faith to natural freedom. Ultimately, Gods unwritten law of selfless love and unity of existence is key to good governance.
(Mat 5:17 KJV) Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
LAW V LOVE