There are three types of behaviors in the species we call man or humankind.

1. Reflexive behavior.  You have no control.  If a doctor hits you on the knee in a certain place, your leg will jerk.  If you touch a hot stove, you will jerk away.  And so on.

2. Controlled Actions.  You think about doing something, and you make a choice to do it--or not.

3. Drives.  These actions can be controlled to a point.  Hunger, thirst, sleep, sex...they are necessary for the continuation of the species.  You are driven to indulge in these behaviors, but most cultures believe that you need to control them.

God gives instructions for human behavior.  Those instructions are for the good of humankind.  They are not destructive.  But man tends to indulge in behaviors that are detrimental to himself.  Behaviors that destroy the body, the mind and the spirit.  Why?  Because we have not agreed on controlling the third type of behavior--drives.

We eat and drink too much, grow fat and induce an overwhelming number of problems and side effects.  You know the illnesses that come from overweight.  And the joint destruction--knees, hips and feet.  Also, there are problems that result from not eating proper foods--even if you maintain a good weight--and induced problems of drinking the wrong things for our body to function properly.

And then there is the sex drive.  We all have this drive.  If we didn't there would be no survival of our species.  As a matter of fact, the very first instructions that God gave the man and woman that He had created was to have sex.  He created them for each other.  His actual words were "Be fruitful and multiply."  Probably no drive given to the human species has been so horribly abused.  To the detriment of society as a whole.  Misuse of this drive can lead to emotional pain, heartbreak and sadness.  Which is a shame when God gave it as a reward of commitment in marriage.

God did not intend people to treat each other with cruelty.  He said to love each other.  Just as we love ourselves.  We are about to start a new year.  Examine yourself in the light of what God intended for your life.  If you aren't a better person than you were a year ago.......why?