Keeping it Real

It's easy to talk about how to beat temptation or how to choose the better path, but it has the negative effect of making the speaker appear holier or better than they are. This can make others lose hope, thinking that they have no willpower and see (seemingly) around them in their local fellowship with other Christians all these supposedly holy people.They start to think that church is not for them and that they don't fit in. I had spiritual downfalls this week, giving in to temptations and making poor choices, and as I come to God asking forgiveness and renewing my commitment for the one billionth time to try to do better and honor God, I realize I'm not alone. I feel bad, but this is a very real situation for so many, I just wanted to share for others who are struggling, battered by the feeling of failure. As Jesus told Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you."

I have often wondered about the line "confess your sins one to another..." - that could simply mean going to those you've wronged and saying you're sorry, or maybe it means we should have a safe environment among the brothers and sisters in Christ that we can talk about the sins we have trouble with and get help and help each other. I wish there were more groups within most church environments where we can do that. Often it is the smaller groups that meet during the week for prayer where you can find this. I wish I remember where I heard this but I recently heard a quip: "Attendance to Church services shows how popular the pastor is, and attendance to the midweek prayer service reveals how popular God is!" That's not entirely true, but you get the picture. Your midweek prayer group will just be a different environment.

I myself have broken every one of the Ten Commandments, and while it may not be a good idea to share our sins randomly at church, I just wanted to take a moment here on this blog to say: Take heart, there is none good, except for God. Don't let discouragement try to convince you that you're not good enough to come to God. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off,  and take heart in the words of Christ "My grace is sufficient for you."

If you ever get the chance to hear the story of the man who wrote "Amazing Grace" - it's a good example of how God reaches out to offer forgiveness to us all.

This morning I read at Grantley Morris's site an interesting discovery he made when interviewing people who had been delivered from temptation by miraculous power - "I interviewed a number of people. I became increasingly perplexed to learn that it seemed everyone who had experienced such a miracle still had one addiction – often smoking, but not always – that caused them great shame and embarrassment as they kept floundering in their attempts to beat that particular habit." Why does God sometimes let us lose battles with temptations? - netburst.net. I always enjoy Grantley's insights.