Tag: excuses

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1 John

Our struggle with sin

Child of light

It would be easy, having seen the last two blogs I have posted, to get the impression that I’m saying a true Christian should be perfect. That there should be no sin in our lives at all.

And John does seem to have this tendency to put these things in black and white. But one thing that is also crystal clear from his writing is that though we are children of light, and that true children of light walk in that light, we still sin. We still fail.

In fact, John tells us,

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8)

And again,

If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (10)

How does this all fit into what we have said before?

Several things, some of which we have already touched on.

  1. A true child of God does not make excuses for their sin. They do not try to explain away scripture to justify their sin. They do not try to say their case is an “exception” to the rule.
  2. A true child of God does not blatantly ignore scripture. When they read it, they do their best to follow it.
  3. A true child of God struggles with their sin. They don’t simply say, “This is the way I am. I’m never going to change.” Rather they mourn over their sin. And they long to be different.

This is not to say that true Christians never do any of the above. Sometimes they do make excuses. Sometimes they do blatantly ignore scripture. Sometimes they do say, “This is the way I am. I’m never going to change.”

And sometimes, Christians simply have blind spots. They simply can’t see their sin for what it is. They haven’t reached the point of maturity where they can discern all that’s good and evil. (Hebrews 5:13-14)

But a true Christian will not simply continue living this way. The Holy Spirit will not allow it. And if the Christian will not listen, he will bring discipline into their lives.

The good news, however, is that when we repent, God will forgive. John tells us,

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (9)

Are you a child of God? A child of the Light? Then stop making excuses for your sin. Stop ignoring God’s Word. When God chastises you, repent. And God is gracious. He will forgive you.

We will never be perfect while in this world, but that should always be our goal. If we truly love Jesus, we should long to be like him.

Do you?

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Romans

It’s the result that counts, right?

Romans

Yesterday, we talked about ways of thinking that God condemns, and how some of the things people say today are similar to, but different from how they thought in Paul’s time.

One thing they said was,

Let us do evil that good may result. (Romans 3:8)

In Paul’s day, this meant, “Let’s do evil, so that people will clearly see the difference between us and God, and thus glorify God.”

It was a very perverse way of thinking (not to mention strange), and Paul quickly condemned it.

But people today say the same kind of thing, though with a different meaning. Namely, “The ends justify the means.”

In other words, “I know what I’m doing is wrong, but it’s for a good purpose.”

For example, “I know I shouldn’t move in with my boyfriend, but we can save money this way for when we get married. Plus, we can find out if we’re truly compatible before we tie the knot.”

Or, “I know I shouldn’t twist the truth on my resume, but it’s the only way I can get a good job.”

Or, “I know I shouldn’t marry this guy because he doesn’t believe in Christ. But maybe if I do marry him, he’ll become a Christian someday.”

But God condemns this way of thinking. He wants us to follow his way, and that includes both the ends and the means. When we try to take shortcuts, it often leads to disaster.

If you look at the whole Arab-Israeli conflict today, it came because Abraham thought the ends justified the means.

God had promised to give him a child and that through that child, the whole world would be blessed.

But when years passed, and no child came, Abraham decided to “help” God keep his promise. He slept with his wife’s servant girl.

Now this was at his wife’s suggestion, and it was also in line with the social norms of the day for those whose wives were barren.

But it was not in line with God’s way. And now the descendants of the servant (the Arabs) are at bitter odds with the descendants that came from God’s promise (the Jews).

How much trouble and strife might have been avoided had Abraham not gone with the idea that the ends justified the means?

How about you? Are you living your life by faith, doing things God’s way and trusting that God will bless you for doing so?

Or are you instead making excuses for your behavior, saying that it’s for a good purpose?

In God’s eyes, the ends never justify the means.

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Exodus

Concerns? Or excuses?

When God called Moses to deliver his people, Moses had no end of excuses. 

“Who am I to go?  For that matter, who are you?” 

After God answered those questions, Moses brought up more objections to his going to Egypt.

“Nobody will believe me.”

I suppose that was a fairly legitimate concern.  After all, the people weren’t exactly accepting of his leadership before. 

Plus, what would you think if someone told you God was speaking to them, especially when it directly concerned your future? 

So God gave Moses signs to prove to the Israelites that God had sent him.

But Moses didn’t stop there.  He said,

“But I’m not very eloquent.  I’m slow of speech and tongue.”

Some people believe from these words that Moses stuttered or had a speech impediment. 

I’m not sure of that.  It could’ve just been that he was like most people, not good at speaking in front of people. 

But whatever the situation, God wasn’t buying it. 

“Moses, I created you.  Don’t you think I know your strengths and weaknesses?  I gave you your mouth.  Now go.  I’ll help you speak and teach you what to say.”

And at this point, Moses finally came straight out before God.

“O God, please send someone else!” 

In other words, “O Lord, send anybody but me!”

At that point God got upset with Moses. 

And he said, “Okay, fine.  I’ll give you your brother Aaron to help you.  But you’re not going to avoid this task altogether.  You’re going to work with your brother and together you’re going to confront Pharaoh.

What is your response to God when he asks you to do something? 

Do you say, “Yes Lord?” 

Or do you say, “But Lord…?”

Sometimes we have legitimate concerns about the things God’s asking us to do. 

Other times, those “legitimate concerns” are simply excuses to cover for a lack of faith. 

Despite all that God had told him and shown him, Moses simply wasn’t willing to take that step of faith and obey him. 

At a guess, Moses was suffering mostly from a fear of failure.  He had tried once and failed. 

Now he was afraid he was going to fail again, and he didn’t want to go through that again.

I certainly know that feeling.  To step out in faith is the scariest thing in the world.  And I hate failure.  I’d rather stay on the safe and sure path. 

It’s something I still struggle with.

But if we’re going to fulfill the destiny God has planned for us, we need to trust God and take that step of faith. 

The good thing about it is that we don’t have to do it alone.  God himself is with us. 

And as God gave Moses Aaron to help him, he gives us people to support us too. 

Maybe they can’t give us all the physical support that Aaron gave Moses, but they can give us their prayers, and their encouragement.