Make every effort

2 Peter  4-9:

It is a constant struggle against the grain to be all that God wants us to be. We are not inherently good. Despite our salvation, we are still not perfect or love filled humans. We are filled with envy, jealousy, bitterness, greed, shame, rejection, anger, gluttony, slothfulness, passions, etc. We must work towards goodness every single second of our day.  We must fight against the wrongness of our thoughts and fleshly desires.

You may look at the people in your church with envy and think, “I can never be them.” In reality, no, you never will, but you don’t want to be! EVERYONE, not just you, comes with their own sets of sin struggles that they bury.  Do you think they would wear their weakness on their sleeve so that anyone can see it? Of course not! But it is their own private battle with the flesh and satan. This is the daily battle that we ALL face. People just aren’t talking about it the way they should.

I am constantly catching and rebuking myself due to wrongful thinking and sometimes wrongful speech. It is for this reason that I doubt myself and my purpose. How can one be chosen to do what I feel compelled to do for Christ if I cannot keep my flesh from speaking for me, even if it is just in thought? This is where my “less than” mentality tries to take over.

Non-Christians believe we should be different because of the ‘front’ they see. Unfortunately, when we slip up and act human, they are put off by us and call us hypocrites. No! We are humans who are trying to follow Christ and do what He has asked of us, but we will by no means ever rid ourselves of our flesh until we join Him. We are, and always will be human!

Earlier I said that “people just aren’t talking about it the way they should.” This is what I mean by that. Have you ever been to a church and felt out of place? I have.  Perhaps talking to some of the members made you feel as if you will never be good enough to be a part of their church. Many of us have. But give this some thought: Have you ever met someone who instinctively let their guard down and let you know that they too are broken and struggling? They didn’t expect a drum roll or fan-fare, but just showed you their humanness at the first opportunity so that you would feel comfort in yours? THAT is what we should do for others. At the first opportunity, show them the weaknesses we can afford to share so that they can be made whole in theirs. Let them know that underneath the beauty and grace of the body of this church is human hearts and stories that match their own. They need not feel like foreigners in their own land. They can be a part of this church and learn and grow as we all do. Daily.

But God gave us a way to be forgiven and find salvation. It is up to us to become who He wants us to be. It is a constant work, a constant refining process. You will find the strength for that work in the bible, in fellowship, in serving, in faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, Godliness, mutual affection and mostly in LOVE. We have been forgiven, we have been chosen and we will succeed because of Christ! Nothing WE can do will work. But our goal is to do the best we can to serve and to please Him. Show love, people. Expose the weaknesses that will draw others to God. Show them how He heals.