Who me?

2 Timothy 3:5

Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Proverbs 28:13

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

You know that it’s difficult when someone wants “To Talk”! When what they have to say feels hurtful and brings up the need to be defensive.  I may not even have a clue that what I did created those feelings in someone else.  But like it or not, intentional or not, I have stuck my foot in it many times.  And yet my first reaction would be “Who Me?”.

As I have been growing in my spiritual and emotional life, I have learned many things and here is a few…..

1. People will draw closer to me if my appearance of godliness is obviously drawn from the power of God.  People like to be close to others that are genuine.  What you see is what you get and I pray at least most of the time you see someone that loves and lives for God.
2. People need grace, I need grace………..God gives it to me overflowing.  So when I speak to others, I too need to be willing to give grace overflowing.  I want to build up not tear down.
3. I want to be the first to say “Yes, It was me”, “Yes, I’m a mess”, Yes, please forgive me”.  I may try to hide my transgressions from humans but I can never hide them from God.  So I will confess and be willing to do it freely and HE will have mercy on me.

But I have also realized that not everyone is so willing to admit and confess.  I still need to give them grace and mercy.  This is a hard pill to swallow and the learning process takes longer for some than others.  But the bible, God’s word, speaks to those people.

Proverbs 16:18

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Pride is a culprit that will devour us, if we let it.  Destruction is inevitable if we don’t learn how to humble our self enough to lay it out there, suck it up and admit our wrongs.  The quicker we do it, the quicker our freedom comes.

Galatians 5:13

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Freedom is a fabulous place to land.  It’s so freeing to “Be Real”.  But we must continue to do a self check to make sure that we’re not letting our flesh take over our freedom.  If we don’t, we will soon be in bondage again.

So I say, “Be the first to admit it and live in Freedom that God’s Grace and Mercy gives”.

Lord I pray that I will learn from my experiences, when I stick my foot in deep.  I pray that I will not fear being Real with people when it may mean admitting my wrongs or accepting them.  I pray that I will rejoice in the freedom Your grace gives me and I will rest in the mercy that You shower on me.  Lord, please be with my family and friends.  Help them see that saying “Who me?” instead of admitting “Yes, I’m a mess” is pride and not from God. Amen!