REALITY CHECK
I don’t like confrontation. In fact, I loathe it with every fiber of my being. I’m not sure I really know anybody who does like confrontation now that I think about it. I mean, the whole idea of looking someone in the eye and either being told or telling someone that you/their behavior and actions are wrong and hurtful is no pleasure trip. I think it’s why when faced with the option of confronting or not confronting, we (and I mean me) will often choose the easy way out and simply keep my mouth shut.
In my last post I apologized to all of you on behalf of society and our church. In that post I mentioned how we as older women of faith have failed you in coming alongside you to help guide you through your spiritual walk. After writing that post, I really felt convicted by the Holy Spirit that despite all that Kelly and I are aiming to do through this blog, there is one way that I know I have failed you.
So many times I respond to your emails and read your comments where you talk about certain battles you are waging and I never say anything, or I am overly polite in my response because I am too afraid that I’ll hurt your feelings and you wont ever read the blog anymore. However, the other day in a moment of courage, I responded to one of your emails with blunt and loving confrontation. I was surprised to receive a response back so quickly, but even more shocked by the message. This young girl thanked me for my forthcomingness and said she appreciated that someone was willing to give her the reality check she needed.
WHAT?? You mean being honest and lovingly confronting someone didn’t end in horror? I know, the insanity of it all! After reading her email I was impassioned and confirmed that I needed to take it one step further and now confront all of you.
Yes, you. You reading this right now. I am confronting you. On what, you might say?
I know that there are plenty of you out there who are actively participating in some kind of sinful activity that you know for a fact is wrong and you are ignoring it. It could be sex or sexting or porn or gossip or cyber-bullying or stealing- you name it, you know what it is. You are doing this thing, knowing you shouldn’t it, but still continuing to do it anyway. And I am here to tell you that you are wrong. You are sinning against the creator of this world, spitting in His face over the blood he spilt for your ransom and in a sense giving him your middle finger and saying you don’t care. And I’m wondering, what is it going to take for you to let go of your own selfishness and stop doing what you are doing.
Now let me pause here. I know you’re thinking “But Heather, you always tell us there is grace and we need to rest in God’s grace to forgive us.” Agreed. Yes, there is grace. Hallelujah there is grace. However, grace does not, I repeat, does NOT give you the license to sin now and repent later. It’s not a get out of jail free card. And it’s abuse can lead to even more severe problems. Look at this passage in Romans 6:
“So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land!……That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.” (The Message)
If you are a follower of Christ, the abuse of grace and justification of your sin is not the act of a true believer. This passage is saying if you love God and you’ve dedicated your life to Him, knowingly sinning against him should not be something you do. That should have gone away the moment you decided to give your life to God. Paul is saying that you shouldn’t even give that sin or the old way of life a second thought. A true follower would not abuse grace and want to keep sinning because they know it is not pleasing to God to do so. So the question is; are you a true follower of God, and if you feel you are, why are you still doing what you are doing?
You may say, “Heather, I can’t help it.” To you I say, look at 1 Corinthians 10:13 that says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” God ALWAYS gives you a way out. No sin will ever enter your life that you are unable to walk away from. No hand is forcing you, no devil making you do it, you have the right and the choice to say yes and give in, or no and walk away. Whatever the choice, it is ALWAYS yours.
Girls, I love you. Sometimes like you are my own daughter or sister. Take it from me, a habitual sinner who has lived in knowing sin many times before, it isn’t the life you want to lead. Sinning is easy. Repenting and walking in Christ is tough and does demand things of you. But that path over the path of sinning is by far the more joyful and rewarding of the two. So hear me when I tell you that as long as you continue down the road of sin that you are, you won’t be at peace. You will drift further from the Lord and the momentary pleasure you feel from whatever you are doing will eventually go away and will leave you shattered and broken. So do yourself, me, and most importantly God a favor and walk away.
No boy, social status, cute dress, or millions of friends are worth it. I promise you. Stop making excuses of why you can’t and start looking to Jesus to find the ways that you can.
I know I’ve hurt some of you; maybe even made you mad. I’d like to tell you I’m sorry, but I’m not. I love each of you too much to not say anything. I know God loves you infinitely more than I, and I know his heart is breaking over you and his desire to have you back. So go back. Take this reality check and turn back to Jesus. He’s waiting for you.
WRITTEN BY: HEATHER OWEN
JULY 30, 2013 via (http://agirlikeme.com/reality-check/)
