I recently heard someone say, "I know it's wrong, but I don't think I want to stop. I think I like it." Hmm. Think about that. We've all said it or thought it at some point in time, no matter what the "it" is. Think about the other people who have said similar things... serial killers, serial rapists, child molesters. How quickly we pass judgement on them, but all sin is equal in the eyes of God (even if it isn't to us). Does that make us equal?

Regardless, God doesn't make rules for fun. He didn't make a book to tell us how to live our lives so we would feel stifled and miserable. He didn't mean for us to ever feel stuck or boxed in.  Look:

"I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. I'm speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!" 2 Corinthians 6:11-13

God didn't make a list of rules to make Himself more GOD. He's already as God as it gets, ya know? So why did He? Why do we look at the Bible like that? God gave us a book of how to live our lives because He knew the best way for us to live. Think about it... every sin I can imagine committing brought some kind of crap into my life. Everytime I dishonored my parents or lied or cheated or stole or whatever, it always brought something bad with it. God didn't make "rules" for us to be judged on how good of a person we could be. God gave us suggested guidelines for ways to make our lives in this broken world as good as they could be. He gave us suggestions for things to stay away from or to get into so we could be closer to Him. So why don't we do that stuff?

I don't know either. I know that when I see a teen go through something I went through, I want to shake him or her until they understand. I can't though, and that's really hard. But remember youths, when you feel tempted to do something that will yank you away from God, you're not supposed to stay away from it because it feels bad... usually it will be something that you really want to do. You are supposed to stay away from it because God knows what's best for you, and He knows we can't always be trusted to know it for ourselves.

When you have that little Jiminy Cricket in your head bringing some alarm to a situation or decision... listen to it. As hard as that might be. And if you're having trouble listening, get with someone else who can listen better.