Category Archives: moral values

Marriage: One Man, One Woman

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Why do we support marriage between one Man and one Woman? The fifth Credo of the Stewardship Foundation is this: We believe… in the sanctity of human life, marriage and sexual morality, and religious freedom and the rights of conscience.

We support marriage only between one man and one woman because our faith binds in His Word. In the beginning (Genesis 2:18, 21-25) the Lord God said: 

It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.” So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.

So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body. The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.

happily smiling husband-father, wife-mother, baby
One Man, One Woman, One Family

Almost every marriage ceremony between a man and a woman performed by a priest in a Catholic church includes this quote from 1 Corinthians 13:2-7:

If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

The last phrase, “endures all things” does not ignore the many hardships of life: financial problems, sickness, and family stress. Marriages are more likely to fall apart are those where the commitment to God’s ideals in marriage are not celebrated (and managed) by consistent, sincere prayer.

In Hebrews 13:4, the foundation of marriage is clearly stated: 

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Moral marriage is between one man and one woman. Redefining marriage as between two people “in love” but of the same sex implies that all fathers and all mothers are expendable. But in Matthew 19:4-12 it is clearly stated that the sacrament of marriage overrides the rights of offspring to be raised:

Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss (her)?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.” His disciples then said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” He answered, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.

The unfortunate trend toward same-sex couples adopting and raising someone else’s child as a blended or adoptive family, including in-vitro surrogates, may appear to be a loving act, but it deprives children of the distinct advantages of being raised by their biological parents, knowing from whom they came, and instead identifies them as simply commodities.

Perhaps, even God-loving people will be offended by our credo. We do not define marriage as a relationship issue, it is a pro-creation issue. God made men and women biologically different so that they would procreate the human race with Him in order to bring more souls to Him. 

America’s Free Fall

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In a May 2022 Gallup poll on Values and Beliefs, over 50% of Americans rated the overall state of moral values in the U.S. as poor and 37% as fair. That left only 13% of Americans with a rating of good, and 1% as excellent. This is Gallup’s worst rating ever on American Values and Beliefs!

Ethics, Honesty, Integrity, Respect: as illuminated in four incandescent light bulbs
Ethics, Honesty, Integrity, Respect

Proverbs 10:4 says, “Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring riches.” God has designed us to work. Everything belongs to God, including the money we make. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, what you do for a living…Psalm 24:1 reminds us that “The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belongs to the Lord.” Everything the Lord makes is good. It’s not about how much we have, it’s how well we serve God and others with it.

There’s a story told by Jesus Christ, the Parable of the Talents, in Matthew 25:14-30. This Parable serves as the backbone of the Stewardship Foundation and our guiding principle. It says that those who are entrusted with much, whether it be money, assets or non-financial riches, much is expected! Christ instructs us to “do something” with the riches we have — invest it, or share it – but never bury it.

As younger Americans stray from biblical truth to “find themselves” and older Americans reject the traditional biblical values that have defined Americans since our founding, they join a general population that no longer attends church services and is greatly influenced by what is seen and heard on the screens of millions of mobile devices. 

As the culture around us breaks down, our traditional moral values formerly based on the Word of God or moral tradition are ignored. Deciding that belief in God is not required to be a moral person, we become restless, self-centered, angry, immune to violence, and generally feel less safe.

Can we turn this loss of morality around? God made us, thus we are a reflection of our Creator. People can behave morally and not believe in God; we humans seem to know what’s good and want to do good things. This alone is because God does exist. 

Ranked #1 as the “most important problem with the state of moral values in the country today” was lack of consideration of others. However, personal accountability ranked near the bottom. An interesting, if not revealing, juxtaposition. 

As always, if we can provide guidance or advice to help you make make wise, moral decisions about your money, please give us a call at (614) 800-7985.

America Moral: Is There Hope?

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Gallup ran a poll in May 2022 on Values and Beliefs: over 50% of Americans rated the overall state of moral values in the U.S. as “poor” and 37% gave a rating of “fair.” A little math reveals the sad truth that only 13% see U.S. moral values as “good” (12%) or “excellent” (1%). 

In all fairness, partisanship plays a role. Conservatives are more likely to give a lower rating as the morals of the country seem to have fallen to a new low. What was unthinkable a few generations ago — honesty, respect for the rules of law, sanctity of life, sexual morality — are no longer being embraced by the majority of Americans, especially younger Americans as they stray from biblical truth to fine moral guidance, and “find themselves” by rejecting the traditional values that have defined Americans since our founding in 1776.

Fewer Americans make moral choices based on faith, and are heavily influenced by what they see and hear on screens — whether it’s on the big screen in movie theaters, on television, or the millions of mobile devices that have taken over our lives.

What we believe dictates how we act. As the culture around us breaks down, every time traditional values based on the Word of God or moral tradition are ignored, the world becomes a bit more troubling, angry and less safe.

Moral values are the foundation of our ability to judge between right and wrong. They are formed from a person’s life experience (and often subject to opinion). For instance, we know that murder is wrong, but we don’t believe that driving “slightly” over the speed limit is; we know lying is wrong, but gossip…that’s not just a bad thing.

Can we turn this around? Perhaps we can with the younger generation. We can help our children and grandchildren by teaching them the 10 Commandments and giving them certain books to read, such as Aesop’s Fables for the young ones or To Kill a Mockingbird for preteens.

Raising kids who know and love God is the only place to start if we expect to reverse the moral decline in America in our lifetime —or in the lifetime of our grandchildren.