The other day a man wrote to tell me that my devotion Fools, Anger, and Repentance was ungodly because I admitted that I sometimes get angry. He said I was encouraging others to sin.
I remember attending a study as a new Christian and deciding it wasn’t for me because everyone in it seemed pretty close to perfect. They didn’t share their prayer requests, but I imagined their requests would be things like “Please pray that I spend three hours in prayer each morning instead of two hours.”
We cannot have real and meaningful fellowship with God or others if we aren’t honest about both our sins and our victories over sin (Proverbs 28:13; James 5:16; 1 John 1:8-10; Romans 12:15).
If I were ignoring God’s commands and living a sinful lifestyle, I’d have no business writing devotions. But if we are looking for perfect people to teach us, we’ll never find any.
I’ve walked with the Lord for fifty years, and I’ve grown in my faith, successfully dealing with many of my sins. But I still blow it sometimes. And if I tried to hide that fact, I’d be dishonest.
My Bible Love Notes author page (Gail) explains I'm still growing in the Lord. And I know for sure I won't reach perfection this side of heaven.
But I’d love to hear your view. Would you rather read devotions by authors who present themselves as perfect?
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For more on this subject, see:
When You Blow It, Don't Hit the "Backspace"
I would rather you be real. No one will be perfect on earth. I look forward to your devotions daily, they are such an encouragement.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sheba, I appreciate your encouragement.
ReplyDeleteWhat a strange comment that gentleman made...why would admitting to sin encourage others to sin? As flawed human beings (saved by God's grace) we ALL sin, all the time, in thought, word or deed. I feel that admitting to your sin simply enables another to realize that they can and should come to terms with their own sins.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you! That you should be honest with how you feel, and your growth in the Lord. That's what God also calls us to do; be honest, pray to Him in honesty -not unintentional prayer, to give Him your personal feelings, situations; Everything!!! Keep up the beautiful Godly work. God bless you.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Gail
ReplyDeleteI respect your transparency as a Sister in Christ. In fact, God honors honesty from His children. Thank you for being honest with us, your viewers.
I read a devotional from Love Worth Finding by Dr. Adrian Rogers about three months ago. He pointed out the importance of expressing the good, the bad, and the ugly to God. I was afraid at first, to tell God how I really felt about a particular situation. Yes, my Lord already knows what is in my heart, on my mind yet He wants to hear from me. My prayer life and communing with God has deepened ever since!
Believers will mess up! King David gave us the beautiful Psalm 51. I do believe in the importance of self-examination (Psalm 139:23,24; 1 Corinthians 11:28-31) confession of my sins (1 John 1:9), and asking the Lord for humility, wisdom, strength to overcome a sin or a rebellious area of my life that I need to give to Him. My walk with the Lord has been transformative ever since!
We all fall short to the glory of God, so there is no such thing of human perfection (Romans 3:23).
I recently learned of an aspect of Christianity called Entire Sanctification or Christian Perfection. It is a threshold phase after accepting Christ where you can resist all sin and was taught by Wesley. It seems to be based on a single reference “Go on to perfection” [Heb. 6:1 KJV]. A full salvation from all our sins, from pride, self-will, anger, unbelief is how Wesley describes it. I agree with your premise that perfection on earth isn't attainable and I think they would agree but that they have the Holy Spirit sufficiently to resist all sin even though they still sin. Something in me says Wesley read to much into the reference. I'd appreciate your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteV/R, John
BTW I read your love notes regularly and find your writing insightful. Thank you.
I'd much rather you be honest Gail. Contrary to the view of this guy, I think it helps other Christians. Scripture even says to confess our sins one to another. For myself, it helps me in my own weaknesses to know other Christians struggle in similar ways. There's power in honesty.
ReplyDelete