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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Don't Drink the Water

Well...you don't have to tell me twice. Actually you don't have to tell me once. Seriously, who would drink toilet water? Okay... besides Murphy (my dog).

Like a splash in the face, it hit me. I do. I drink toilet water. I pour all kinds of tainted things into my heart and mind. My thoughts, the things I view, or what I listen to can be poisonous.

Why do I do this?

I am a sinner.

But...I am a saved sinner. There is hope for me. God has given me the power to turn from sin, to run from it. I just need to tap into His Holy Spirit power, drink it in, and let it flow through my veins.

 On my own, I'm parched, dying but His Spirit is the life-giving, pure water-waiting to be consumed.

I pray my children will drink living water.

The college years are filled with toilet water, beckoning the kids to take a sip, next a gulp, then consume a gallon, finally it is their beverage of choice. They can't even taste the poison. (This can make a parent sick, heart-sick.)

If you find yourself in this position of hurting due to your young adults choice of beverage,

PRAY.

My prayer for my kids is any activity that does not honor the Lord leaves them thirsty. I pray they desire clean water. I pray that only Jesus can can quench that thirst.

The enemy may have won the battle but he hasn't won the war.

Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.

John 4:14