Forged By Faith

1 John 1:5 NIV Yesterday we talked about that all too common question that people outside of our faith love to ask: Where is God? People seem to have a plethora of questions that they think will undermine our beliefs and cause us to admit that we're wrong in having the faith that we have. I guess that since they've closed their minds and hardened their hearts to the possibility of something bigger than themselves, they need to attack those who live by faith in order to bring us down to their level where we give up and accept defeat. But I have a question of my own for those who don't choose to believe in God: How do we determine what's right and what's wrong if we don't have some kind of supreme moral foundation by which to gauge good and evil? Which, having typed that out, I guess we should address whether or not people even believe in good and evil. I reckon that's an assumption on my part. Do people believe in the difference between righteousness and evil...

Hebrews 10:14 NIV Yesterday we discussed the dangers of becoming self-critical. It's hard enough to grow and improve when we're positive and upbeat and face the trials of life with a joy and excitement that helps us along the way. How much harder do we make that growth and improvement when we're constantly tearing ourselves down? I guess the main thought is that God doesn't treat us that way. He chose to forgive us and wash away our sins, not hold them over our heads. Maybe we should try the same approach. I heard this statement last night and the timing was incredible. It really is amazing how God works and how He gives us exactly what we need right when we need it. Direction not perfection. I've never quite thought of faith like that. You see, I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I want to do things as well as I possibly can. And considering that perfection isn't a realistic possibility in this life, well, that tends to lead to quite a bit of frustration and disa...

2 Corinthians 11:30 NIV Look, no one is perfect. No one can say that they've never made a mistake. No one can claim that they don't have any areas in their lives that need some work. But that's okay! It's okay to not be perfect. It's okay to have flaws and weaknesses. It's okay to mess up and do stupid things. Not because that's how we should aim to live but because they help us see what we need to work on. They help us see how much we need God's grace! I'll be the first to admit that I'm far from perfect. I mess up countless things every day. I say things I shouldn't. I do things without thinking and make a complete mess of the situation. I snap at people for no reason. I read things wrong and jump to conclusions. I get angry over miniscule things. I do a little too much judging. I get distracted by things that don't matter. I waste time. I make mistakes. I get plenty of things wrong. But I'm working! That's the point. When we ig...

Romans 3:23 NIV This one has really been on my mind lately. We need to lighten up and give ourselves a break. I don't know about you, but I can get to the point where I'm so hard on myself that nothing I do seems good enough. This worldly aspiration to be perfect is truly consuming. We learn to see our flaws and if we're not careful then they just might become all we can see period! Now if you've read previous posts then you know I'm all about growing and improving. I believe that God calls us to strive to change for the better and never stop chasing after Him. But we need to be careful that perfection doesn't become our goal. That should never be our pursuit because it just isn't possible. If perfection is our goal then we will constantly be disappointed in ourselves and convinced that we'll never be good enough. I've had my eyes opened to how self-critical I'd become lately. I had noticed that being happy seemed a little further away. All the t...

Proverbs 24:16 NIV We've been taught to live in fear of failing. We shudder at the idea of messing up and falling short. We sit around and watch all these people around us living their highlight reel lives and think that we should have ourselves a little more together than we are. But the truth is that nobody is perfect and no life is perfect. That's just the way it is. Perfection is this human ideal that we've created to judge things by. It's this spotless dream that's unattainable. It's basically nothing but a stumbling block that keeps us disappointed and ashamed of ourselves. We have to ditch this idea of never failing because it's going to happen. Every single one of us have made more mistakes than we can remember. But not a single one of those mistakes was ever the end of the story! Living in fear of failure can lead us to stop trying. It can force us to hide in our comfort zones where we think we have everything under control. That's a fine idea, ...