I Confess I'm a Hypocrite

I confess I'm a hypocrite.
I'm a Christian and yep...I'm a hypocrite. 

I tell my kids not to do things I have done.
I give advice to others that I don't take myself.
I know the best and right way to honor God with my words and my actions and I do the opposite.

I am selfish.
I am prideful.
I am human.

I am a sinner who needs a savior. 

I am in good company too...because I'm guessing, unless your name is Jesus, you are the worst of all sinners just like me, just like Paul (1 Timothy 1:15-16).

We (you and me) justify our choices, actions, and behavior.  

We normalize. "Everyone sins." 
We  downsize."It's not that big of a deal."
We minimize. "It doesn't hurt anyone."
We trivialize. "It's just a little sin."
We strategize.  "If no one knows..." 
We personalize. "It's my life."
We hypothesize. "If he didn't do that then I wouldn't have done this."  
We  criticize. "He did that wrong."
We generalize. "Everyone does it."
We  overemphasize. "It feels right." 
We glamorize."I'm cool if I_________."
We legitimatize. "It's okay because so many people say it is."
We polarize."If you don't agree you are against me." 

We forget grace. 

We forget truth. 

We focus on people pleasing and justification rather than God-glorification.

I need to ask myself, What is my measuring stick? My feelings? My perception? The culture? Other people's behavior or beliefs? 

Or is Jesus and His Father's never changing and always living word my plumb-line? 

The WWJD (What Would Jesus Do ) movement of the late 1990s was an attempt to encourage Christians to act like Christ would act. 

To not be a hypocrite.

It's a good start. To act like Jesus. Yet I need to dig further. I want to be more like Jesus and less like... me. I am a sinner who wants to honor and glorify God. I want to synthesize my faith and my life. 

I don't want to be a hypocrite. 

The  solution to the sinner struggle is confession, surrender, and repentance.

My Father's will, not mine. 

So....how do I know my Father's will and how do I get to know the person of Jesus? I read his word, I pray, I join in a community of believers---who to be honest---are all hypocrites just like me.  We are saved sinners struggling to be like Jesus who frees us and delivers us from our human nature. 

 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:21-25a

If you liked this post you may enjoy: How to Grow Your Child's Conscience

by,

Lori Wildenberg
Co-founder of 1 Corinthians 13 Parenting, co-author of 3 parenting books. Click here to schedule Lori  for your next event. She is available of special engagements, retreats, and workshops. Stop by the 1 Corinthians 13 Parenting store for gift items, books, and faith wear. 

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Never in My Wildest Dreams...

He’s a good kid.

She was raised to know the Lord.

How could he make this choice? How could she do this thing?

Confusing isn’t it? 

We think we have protected our kids from evil, wrong thinking, and immoral behavior because we raised them with faith and family values. 

A guaranteed good and godly outcome is to be expected. "I did my part, now God you do yours."  

Why do good kids engage in, “sex, drugs, and rock and roll”?

Perhaps we ask the wrong question.

Do I think my tween, teen, or young adult should have a better outcome than the first two people who walked and talked with our Heavenly Father in the Garden of Eden?

Life is filled with the unexpected. 

The only expected things are taxes, death, and… sin.

Sin is a sure thing.

It is hard and hurtful when we  train up our children in the way they should go…and they go the other way.  Many faithful Christ-follower parents have shared their heartache with me. And I’ve had my portion of painful parenting times. 

We share the feeling of deep loss and  painful surprise. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought my child would…” is a line we  speak.

The prodigal-type list is long but these four groups encapsulate most of the issues: Good Kids raised by good parents who are drug addicts, unbelievers (even atheists), sexually active (even promiscuous), and alcohol abusers (or are even alcoholics).

What do we do if we have a prodigal under our roof? 

We follow the example from the Garden.

 Like God:

• We maintain a relationship with our kids.
• We continue to warn our kids regarding what to avoid.
• We talk with our kids by asking questions when they partake in the forbidden fruit. 
• We ask questions rather than accuse.
• We protect our kids after the issue has been disclosed. ( God removed Adam and Eve from the Garden for their own protection. ) 
• We still sacrifice for them.  (The first sacrifice clothed Adam and Eve.)
• We continue to be a part of their lives. (God knew their kids, Cain and Abel)
• We are just and merciful. 
• We show grace and speak truth.
• We do all this with humility because sin is a sure thing. 

Keep talking. Keep protecting.  Keep praying.

In the midst of the unexpected, keep loving with the knowledge that sin is in our blood. But…forgiveness is in His! 

If you liked this post you may want to read one of my most popular posts:  Never Give Up.

Love bears all things.

1 Corinthians 13:7a
ESV 

with faith, hope, and love,

Lori

Please join me, Becky Danielson, and members of the 1 Corinthians 13 Parenting Team for the HeartCORe Parenting Conference on May 9th in Denver Colorado. 

Click here for details. 

You may be asking, why should I come to the HeartCORe Parenting Conference? 

Because we address the things you care about! The CORe concerns of a Christian parent are: faith, relationships, and education. Whether you are single or married parent  join us for fellowship, fun, and family focused sessions on May 9th from 8:30-2:30 at Calvary Church in Englewood. Come to the HeartCORe Parenting Conference and make faith come alive in your home with Kirk Weaver, gain skills to increase your student’s learning with Becky Danielson, discover how to have a resilient marriage with Pete Larson, learn how to build a strong single parent family with Misty Honnold, find out how to cure your toddler to young person’s listentingitis with Lori Wildenberg. The cost is $60 for couple, $50 for individual. Register before  April 26th and get $15.00 off!

 Go to: http://englewood.thecalvary.org/  to register. And Child Care is FREE!

Just Do It

Theme for January: Renewal and Resolution
Verse:

"I do not understand what I do.

For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."

Romans 7:15

Mom's Musing:
2012 is here. Many New Year's resolutions will be made and most broken. When I resolve to avoid dessert, chocolate is all I want- it's all I think about. Maybe sugar isn't one of your temptations but you can relate. Really...why is that? Answer: personal cravings, sinful nature. Rather than tell myself "no sweat treats" I need to adjust my thinking. "I'll have an orange for dessert" or "I can have dessert on the weekends." Telling myself what I can do is more effective than saying what I can't do. What I can't do, I want to do. Retraining the thought process renews the mind.
Happy New Year! (I think I'll go with the weekend option for dessert!)

Parenting Tip:
Tell your children what they can do rather than state what they can't. Ex.: "Sit on the slide" rather than, "Don't stand on the slide." Or for the teen,"Drive the speed limit" instead of, "Don't speed."