Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ
The Traditions of men refer to the way men have being doing things, their culture and their way of life.
The ordinances of God is the divinely ordained way of doing things i.e the way God wants things to be done.
Read I Corinthians 13 to know the character of God i.e love.
It is smart to know the traditions and cultures of men so as to avoid offending them.
In the olden days, some traditions were barbaric such as circumcision of women etc With the advent of modernity these are no longer relevant, some traditions were harmless made to bring order to society.
Galatians 5:22,23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
As citizens of God, we are in the world but not of the world, God instructs us to be law abiding, he expects us to live above board as christians.
This comes naturally when we allow the fruits of the spirit in us to develop. We won’t have a problem keeping the laws of men.
There is nothing wrong with the laws and traditions of men so far as they do not contradict our faith.
When the laws of men begin to contradict what you know in your heart to be truth, then you need to weigh the matter carefully considering who you would rather please: Christ or men.
Jesus said that a Christian is to pick up their cross daily , deny themselves and follow him.
This is not always easy to do, but with the grace of God, it is possible.
Many people would rather go with the crowd, they feel safe because the majority of people are on their side. It doesn’t matter if it’s right in God’s eyes or not so far as it’s the popular thing to do.
How can we please God, how can we desire God’s approval when we’re more concerned of pleasing men than pleasing God?
When we re still showing signs of tribalism, ethnicity and what have you, are we truly allowing the love of Christ shine through us?
The Lord is coming for a spotless church without blemish. In heaven, there won’t be church denominations or titles, all that won’t mean much there, what would be important is your relationship with God.
Starting one step at a time, let’s desire to please God a little more than we please men.
God bless you
