The Seven Commandments of Foolishness

The 2nd Commandment of Foolishness: If it feels good, Do it!

‘I Really Can’t Control Myself.’

To stay within the confines of foolishness, you must base all your decisions on the emotions of the moment. Some people claim that they simply cannot control their emotions. False. Everyone consciously or unconsciously make decisions based on their analysis of cause and effect. On a Monday morning, many people don’t feel like going to work, but they do. This is because they know that if they treat their jobs with levity, they could quickly become unemployed. As for being unable to control ones temper, have you ever seen a so-called ‘hot tempered’ person stop in mid-tirade to take an important phone call? One minute he is shouting at the top of his lungs and the next minute he is chatting pleasantly and politely to that important person. You see you can control your emotions when you know your actions can affect you negatively or positively. Interestingly after the phone call, such a person can pick up his rant from where he stopped. It means your temper IS controllable but you only control it when it benefits you. Blaming wrong actions on an inability to control yourself is not only self-centred but also self-deceit. It is a classic case of foolishness.

Some people believe that the attitude you choose is hinged on your freedom of expression. ‘After all, not everybody has to be Mr. Nice Guy. Therefore if I feel like sleeping with somebody’s fiancé, or feel like having pre-marital sex, that’s fine; If I feel like dishonouring my parents, that’s my prerogative; If I feel like tormenting weaker or handicapped people, that’s just their luck.’ That’s foolishness speaking. True freedom doesn't lie in the ability to do what feels good but rather in the ability to do what is right. Please understand; a person who is controlled by his emotions is a slave! He or she is at the mercy of whatever whim the flesh conjures in his or her mind.

The appeal of living by feeling is the exemption of endurance. This refusal to endure is the main reason why divorce rates have skyrocketed. People no longer see the need to endure the necessary trials of marriage. They get married because it feels good and get divorced when the feeling passes. Today, people have done away with the marriage institution and simply co-habit as ‘partners’. Once the arrangement no longer suits them, they move on. For those who still enter into marriage, they adopt prenuptial agreements in anticipation of a divorce, which usually occurs. People don’t understand that there is genuine freedom in committing to share your life with someone, with the knowledge that no matter what winds may blow, you have a partner for life.

When the question of sexual purity comes into play, people always ask, ‘if sex is bad, why did God create it? And if it’s good, why does it have conditions?’ God said sex is a good within the provisions of marriage. True sexual freedom can only be experienced in marriage where you don’t have to perform like a sex slave or use sex as a bribe for love. You are able to love your spouse spirit, soul and body with no strings attached. That is real freedom.