Our Flaws are Our Own

So, this week has been an interesting one.  I’ve been dealing with understanding why we have flaws, because so many people attempt to justify the things they do saying God made them one way or another.  This morning while I was studying my bible, I had an epiphany.  God did not make us with flaws and imperfections.  God doesn’t make anything that isn’t perfect (Deut 32:4).  He is incapable of it.

Let’s be clear – God made Adam and Eve perfect.  They were given everything in the garden except one tree and because of temptation, they couldn’t see everything else God had given them and be satisfied.  God held one tree back to Himself and they couldn’t stand the thought of not having that too.  Yes, the serpent was manipulative and he lied with some clever reasoning, but none of those reasons mattered (Gen 3).  The fact is that God gave them a directive and no amount of extenuating circumstances gave them the right to disobey.  They could have simply told the serpent, “God told us not to touch the tree and we will not disobey.” (Gen 1: 15-17)  If they had resisted the devil, he would have fled like he did from Jesus after He fasted in the wilderness.    

If you think about it, had they never sinned, they would likely still be in the garden.  So, why do we sin?  Why do we have addictions?  Why are people broken?  Why are we flawed? It’s not because we’re human. It’s because Adam and Eve sinned in the garden.  Everything that happened after they sinned, introduced sin and death into all of us (Romans 6:23).  They are the original culprits and we have continued in their tradition.  It’s because of their sin that pain, illness and death entered the Earth.  

So, let’s look at a current example of this phenomena – Coronavirus.  It’s been a year since the first lockdown of the country and this virus is still taking lives, never having been significantly impacted because of the actions of people.  Coronavirus started as one strain and because we didn’t do what was needed at the beginning, it continued to live and mutate into multiple strains over time.  While we now have a vaccine for it, there are still strains that may not respond to it.  This is similar to the flu virus.  It’s what viruses do. When they are allowed to live long enough to mutate into other strains, they cause more symptoms (some more or less intense than others).  

Sin is the same way.  It has been around since practically the beginning of man’s creation and it has mutated over the millennia into looking like many sinful symptoms – lying, murdering, gossiping, sexual sin, pride, selfishness, etc (Gal 5:19-21).  But all of these come back to the heart.  Thankfully, we have an answer who addresses the root illness no matter what the symptoms look like – Jesus.  He died on the cross to give us an antidote to sin – a changed heart….a saved heart.  God loved us so much that He sent His son to die for us to give us a way back to Him and His righteousness.  

We, who are saved, are no longer bound by sin (Romans 6:13-15).  We may still sin, because our soul/spirit lives inside a sinful, earthly body, but the Holy Spirit empowers us to live right if we submit to Him (John 16:5-15).  We choose every day to obey or not.  Those who don’t have a relationship with Jesus, and don’t have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of them, don’t have the power to fight sin.  That’s why we have to be obedient examples and show them the same love Jesus showed to us – so our lives point to Him.  

As we celebrate Jesus’s triumphant entry in Jerusalem, just one week before he was crucified, let us be the light and salt Jesus has called us to be.  We never know who is watching.

Hearing and Doing

Ever heard someone say, “Don’t judge me.  God knows my heart” when they do something inappropriate or wrong.  I have…and it irks me.  When we know what’s right, we’re obligated to do it.  The Word is clear on this – we are to be doers of the Word and not hearers only (James 1:22-25).  

There was a time when I would sit in church and the Pastor would preach a message about changing habits or lifestyle choices and I would think, ‘Oh, what a great message,’ but would not internalize it. I wouldn’t do any self-reflection to see how the message or God’s Word directly related to my actions and my life.  I wouldn’t ask the Lord to reveal the areas of my life I needed to address.  I wouldn’t ask Him to change me so that I lined up with His Word.  I would just go on….and then I read the book of James.  I was convicted and realized I was a hypocrite. 

I could see the things other people were doing wrong, but my stuff wasn’t as obvious in my own mind.  I wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt anyone or just blatantly committing sin, but I also wasn’t going out of my way to try helping anyone either.  I was not sacrificing for anyone less fortunate. I was comfortable and I was enjoying the comfort……in some ways to the expense of others.  God created us for good works…not that good works can save us.  If we believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and are in relationship with Him (because God is One), we perform good works as an act of love and obedience.  

I don’t know about you, but I like doing things for those I love.  I like seeing them happy or pleased when I give them something they like.  If we love God, we will keep His commandments, including loving our neighbor as ourselves.  If we don’t love our neighbor, the love of God is not in us (1 John 4:20).  By love, I mean meet the need of my neighbor.  Love here is an action word, not just shallow talk.  Love is backed up by actions.  

In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), we see this best demonstrated. The Samaritan, who in general was looked down on by Jewish people because of his ancestry and had nothing to gain, saw a man injured on the side of the road.  Instead of ignoring the injured man like two religious leaders had just done, he picked the injured man up and took him to an inn where the Samaritan paid for his care with a promise to pay more when he returned if needed.  The Samaritan saw past any differences or conflicts he had to the hurting person underneath.  He loved His brother through deeds and actions.  He was the most like Christ and that is our commission.  

In a world with growing tensions and divisions among people, where hate is allowed to thrive in many cases, we have to be about doing God’s Word and not just hearing it more than ever.  The world needs us to be Hearers and Doers!

Sometimes Stuff is Us

Many times we’re in situations and we’re looking for someone to blame.  “It’s that person’s fault or it’s this person’s fault,” we say.  Because, there is no way we are the ones who made the bad choice or didn’t do the right thing.   We look for excuses instead of looking at our own actions.  Let’s take a step back and evaluate this a little. 

I work with several managers and some of them have not learned that they are responsible for what they do and for those who report to them.  For example, if you lead people, you are responsible for them getting the work done or holding an employee accountable to getting it done.  You use all sorts of strategies to get the most out of the people who work for you.  You work to motivate them and gain buy in for the work.  But, if those don’t work, you have to give direct, specific instructions.  If they then still don’t do the appropriate work, you have to hold them accountable.  We all have someone to answer to and just like anything when you are working for someone else, they get to set the parameters.  

I sometimes get, “this didn’t get done because my employee didn’t do it” or “they just don’t want to work.”  My next question is so what are you doing about it……and then silence.  If the manager hasn’t taken any action, they are just as culpable as the employee who didn’t do it.  

My point is that we all have issues and we have to acknowledge them and not automatically judge or blame others.  There’s plenty of blame to throw around and we need to own our part in whatever it is.  It’s not just someone else.  The scripture speak to this as speaking ill about the speck in your brother’s eye, when you have a log in your own (Matt 7:3-5).  

Let’s work to be honest with ourselves and really do some self-reflection…..comparing ourselves to God’s standard – Jesus.  We will come up short….no doubt about that.  But, as we compare our lives to His, it should provide us a roadmap of where we need to pray more for God’s help in changing us.  It will also give us some practical actions we can take to be more like Jesus.  Don’t ever think you’re too far gone and you can’t possibly be forgiven for your sins.  Remember the thief on the cross beside Jesus, about to die.  He asked Jesus for forgiveness and just like that he was forgiven…..no questions asked.  He truly believed with his heart and confessed Jesus with his mouth and in an instant his dirty rags were exchanged for God’s righteousness through Jesus (Luke 23:40-43). 

God loves you so much, but you have to honest with yourself and with Him.  Sometimes we are the culprit in our own destruction and we have to own our part in it to be delivered. 

It’s What God Thinks that Matters

Since I’ve been an adult, I’ve really stopped being concerned about what people think of me.  Yes, of course, I want to be thought highly of.  I mean, who doesn’t?  But I’ve worked hard to live a life that is pleasing to God, because when it all comes down to it, His opinion of me is the only one that really matters.  

If you take a moment to look back over your life, how many times have to done something or agreed to do something to please someone else?  Or because you wanted them to think a certain way about you?  How many of those times have you known it wasn’t really something you should do?  Why is it so important what other people think of you?  What can they do for you?  Other people’s opinions are just that, opinions.  Everyone has them and like armpits, some of them will stink.  The thing is that we’re all human and we sometimes get it wrong...for me that's often.  We can’t be concerned about people thinking highly of us, so we can get ahead or get further along (Prov. 29:25).  Leave it to God to elevate you to the place He has for you.  If we focus on doing what God has called us to do and we remain humble, He will exalt us (James 4:10).  We won’t be concerned about tooting your own horn.  If we're doing things to exalt ourselves with people, if won’t be genuine and it won’t last, because the motivation is incorrect (Gal. 1:10).  Our motivations matter (Ecc. 4:4).  The means do not always justify the ends.   

After we consider our thoughts about what other people think of us, let’s deal with the elephant in the room…..our belief about ourselves (Prov. 21:2).  When we can’t do something, we think we’re a failure, as opposed to seeing the experience as a learning opportunity.  When we do something well, we think “I did that” or “I’m good”, but we need to recognize, we can do nothing on our own.  Our opinions of ourselves are so often based on what we accomplish and who we are.  

The real question is what does God think of us? God has said some things about His children and we need to make sure our opinion of who we are lines up with His (Eph 1:3-14).  That way we always recognize that God has given us everything we need to succeed in His calling for our lives and when we do the work, we can fulfill everything He has told us about ourselves (Deut. 8:18; 2 Peter 1:3).  When our thoughts are not consistent with God’s thoughts, we find ourselves unfulfilled and not giving Him what He requests of us.   Once we become part of his family, our identity is found in Him.  No matter what happens we are still His.  

God’s wisdom flies in the face of the world’s wisdom.  When we recognize that we don’t have to live trying to please others or ourselves, we are free from the emotions associated with pleasing or letting them down….because at the end of the day, no one is always going to happy about what we do. We need to not give them the power to drive our emotions or our actions.  If you decide to live in the space, where God’s opinion is the only one that matters, you only have one voice to listen to….His.  By following God’s will and not your own, you will love Him first and then your neighbors.  You will do well to those who mistreat you (Matt 5:44; Luke 6:28).   He will never lead us astray.  He loves us and wants what’s best for us.  Jesus came so we could have direct access to the Father and His powerful Holy Spirit, who empowers us to do what is right.  As we continue this journey, let’s keep our mind focused on the opinion that really matters.