I am very nervous to write this blog. I have sought wisdom and counsel before publishing it. I fear the judgement that will come from what I am about to say, but, my prayer is that God will use my openness to soften someone's heart and allow them to realize that Christians aren't perfect. I know hundreds of Christians who would readily admit their own sinfulness. Let's start letting the world know the truth. We are broken. We need Him.For the past 12 months since I graduated school, I have been using my student ID like I was still in school. I justified it because I still have student loans. I figured that if I was still paying student loans, I should be able to use my student ID. This is blatant stealing and I was convicted of this the other day when I bought tickets at The Rave for The Avengers. I used my student ID, took a picture of it and tweeted it.
As soon as it became public, I realized how I had lying to myself. I drove back to the theater to pay for the tickets. I will no longer be using my student ID.
The point of this is for me to let you into my world a little bit more. To open myself up to you and trust you with my struggle. To let you know more about the flesh that I wrestle against. I am not expecting you to open up this much with me or make it public. But, I am challenging you to be this open with somebody. Especially if you are a Christ follower. Who are you talking to about your struggles? Does your wife know? Does your husband know? Does your best friend know? Do your parents know?
When we struggle in private we are not allowing our community and network of support to keep us accountable, encourage us, relate to us, and connect to us because we have allowed them to see the real us.
We are broken. We need Him. We should desire to be authentic with others so we can become more like Him.
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Has hypocrisy kept you from opening up with someone?
Who do you trust enough to be transparent with?
When was the last time you felt uncomfortable talking about a struggle with somebody? (Those are usually the times of greatest growth)
I appreciate your transparency, but even more I appreciate how you listened to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Telling others we've been deceitful is so humbling, especially when we've justified the behavior in our minds. I've been in your shoes, confessing to a business owner that I've been deceitful, and making restitution, and in me you'll find no condemnation.
ReplyDeleteWow! I rejoice at what amazing love and grace God has to make sinners righteous, and to remind us when we aren't living out the righteousness he has given to us.
Thank you, Kim. It's been very encouraging to see the body of Christ respond in a loving way to my openness. That's exactly how it should be! Thanks for reading. I would be honored if you would pass this along to others you know who enjoy reading blogs.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!