God v Man

"The right to swing your fist ends when it hits my face." - This sounds really good, but WHAT IF you shouldn't have taken a swing in the first place. We humans assume all too often that we have rights assigned to us that no man can take away. The responsibilities to live a proper life are not dependent on God; they are dependent upon mankind. Sure God has given us the ability to do whatever we want. However, that does not mean we have to or should. The apostle Paul once said "All things are possible, not all things are profitable". He then said "I will be mastered by nothing". Check out some self control and see if it suits you. As an American, I see citizens who, at the first moment the law is absent, take to looting and harming other people. Hurricane Katrina was a large sample of this, as gangs took over buildings, everyday citizens robbed stores, and people were killed for water.
If I say "Doing drugs is wrong" or "Getting drunk is wrong", you might say "Who says it's wrong?" or "There are no laws against getting drunk. This is my mentality: There is an absolute truth from God about how we should live our lives. The bible speaks about the quality of leaders and mentions several desireable attributes relating to maintaining control of yourself and avoiding over-saturating yourself. Too much of ANYTHING can cause problems. I will be mastered by nothing.
So I ask myself "Is it right to abort a child?". No. It isn't. I can do that, but I choose not to because taking a life for such a selfish reason is absolutely wrong. What's that you say? What if the doctor said my wife was going to die if the child was not aborted? I still cannot play the rold of Almighty God and choose who will live and who will die. Ask my wife on this (if I did choose her over the child, she'd kill me herself).
I once had a guy tell me he thought my life was lame and boring since I didn't have sex with all sorts of people, didn't get drunk, didn't try drugs, didn't look at porn, didn't dupe software, etc. I watch movies, I hang out with friends, I play sports, I have a great family, I serve people, I have an awesome church family, and the list goes on. I don't need the troubles of the world to be amplified by wreckless actions. Nothing good comes of getting drunk, nothing good comes from getting toked up, nothing good comes from filling your life with selfish pursuits. I will not train myself for those attitudes, else I become weak at a time where my decision will really affect my life or the lives of others. I have been down that road, and I still find people years later who have not forgiven me!
What makes me saddest: The bible speaks of a "darkening of the understanding", where a person declines into a state of ignorance and non-understanding, where the word of God makes little or no sense / impact. Sometimes the only way to break out of that is for God himself to send a storm on your life to smash your comfort against the rocks.

Ways to stay out of / get away from darkening of the understanding:
+ Hang out with people who help others
Part of a proper mindset is to think about someone besides yourself. Go serve at a soup kitchen, or help someone move into their house, do a canned food drive, help the Red Cross, etc.

+ Stay away from people who abuse substances
It doesn't matter if substance abuse is wrong or not; it affects your loved ones and your mental capacity. To be what God desires (which is AWESOME, in my experience), you need to be aware of your actions at all times. Having sex while blacked out doesn't constitute control.

+ Be accountable to someone
Find someone you can look up to. Someone that is not into excesses, someone who cares about others more than theirself. Accountability means you have to be honest with that person about what you do, say, and think. It is tough to do sometimes.

+ Guys: Stop looking at porn.
Devaluing one of the greatest gifts from God to man is a fast track to devaluing anything important and only serves to create an intense focus on yourself and create guilt and dissatisfaction. Guys will fight this problem their entire lives, and must be kept in check. If you are married, focus that energy on your spouse. Porn is not just nudity; it can be anything that devalues women in a sexual manner. A Carl's Jr. commercial or a Victoria's Secret commercial all count as porn in my book.

+ Girls: Watch your mouth.
The bible's biggest warning to women is gossip. Watch what your lips put out there. Don't hone your verbal skills in the wrong direction; lift up, don't put down. Imagine that anyone you talk about is also within earshot of what you are saying.

I am by no means perfect, but I am thining daily about what I am doing or saying. the list above is nowhere near complete, but is a start to thinking less of self and more globally.

Swami