Discipling the Undisciplined no. 13

“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:33-37). Another teaching about keeping our promises without taking oaths. And that comes down to being honest. Honesty is always the best policy.

I have to be honest with myself. Too often the temptation is to produce this life that is unrealistic and hides my flaws. Honesty means being vulnerable and that leads to the opportunity to be disappointed and hurt. Bitterness and anger fill our world today. Folks are guarding their hearts and living separate rather than loving openly in community. Folks want to stay at home alone because it is safer. Life is not about safety. And God is all about living.

It took a lot of honesty and vulnerability for me to allow God to lead me to a prayer group, church gatherings, and corporate fellowship. I had spent decades living a dishonest life with myself and others. I pretended to have things figured out. Things looked great from the outside. BUT what I needed was Truth. And you can’t have Truth without honesty. And being honest is dangerous.

When I followed His lead and walked into my first Church experience in years, I was scared. I was scared of being rejected. I was scared of being seen as a fraud. I was scared of taking that step back into community with believers. I was scared of the churchiness of church people. And it took a lot to get up early Saturday morning and go inside a church. BUT I had to be honest with who I was becoming.

I was becoming a guy that goes to prayer groups. I was becoming a guy that took notes in churches. I was becoming a guy that read The Bible. I was becoming a guy that prayed. I was becoming honest with who I was. God wants that honesty in our relationship with Him. And He wants us to be that honest with everyone else too. And that is the difficult part of relationships . . . honesty. Honesty leads to understanding. Honesty leads to true love. So, sure, we should not swear oaths because we need to be honest. We need to live lives that are examples of honesty and Truth. And that means opening ourselves to the possibility of pain BUT also the promise of love.

Grace and Shalom to your home. 

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH

Discipling the Undisciplined no. 12

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery” (Matthew 5:31-32). God is all about keeping His promises and Jesus emphasizes that people are responsible for keeping their promises as well. Marriage is a promise not just to your spouse BUT also to God. And yet folks want to redefine marriage and make marriage into all sorts of other things. BUT maybe those folks should not be looking for God to cosign on their promises? 

I think Paul gets the warning rather succinctly in his letter to the Galatians, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith” (Galatians 6:7-10). Folks are warned. Folks have been told. And we continue to tell them. They just need to listen. We all reap what we sow. We all stand in judgment. We all get judged.

Grace and Shalom to your home. 

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH