Dave’s Monday Blast – December 7, 2015
Last week we began a discussion on self-deceit and its destructive nature. We have a penchant for self-deceit. I imagine Freud would call our lies defense mechanisms, but Scripture would affirm something every INTENTIONAL Christian man knows…lying is a sinful, destructive behavior.
I imagine we could come up with a long list of lies…but for the sake of brevity we will center on five. Last week we gave voice to lies one and two:
1) I am OKAY as I am. Okay is good enough. Unfortunately, the Word of God affirms that we need to be diligently crying out to God asking Him to search our hearts, and as sin is unveiled we invite Him to keep doing the necessary renovation work. The end result is a more effective Image Bearer.
2) No one will EVER find out. Even IF that were true (and of course it is not), God sees (Psalm 90:8).
3) No one will get HURT. This lie could be an extension of number two. They are like twin lies. They go hand-in-hand. If it’s not enough that no one will know, we also like to tell ourselves that no one will get hurt. If it’s behind closed doors, if it only involves two responsible adults, if it only impacts me, then it’s got to be okay. However, what we usually mean is that no one will get hurt that we can see right now. We often don’t like to follow the chain of problems beyond the moment or the immediate circumstances. But what we don’t always consider are the spiritual ramifications that could pop up or the problems might not be so obvious.
Additionally, we don’t take into account that God Himself is grieved and pained by our bad choices. God felt major pain because of raging sin before the flood (Genesis 6:6), the rebellion in Israel discussed in Isaiah 63:10 greived the Spirit of God, and Jesus longed to gather His people to Him when they refused to accept Him (Matthew 23:37).
Our sins ALWAYS inflict grief and pain. And they do so to the very ones we should most want to please!
4) That is just the WAY I am. Often the easiest way out of dealing with a destructive pattern in our lives is simply to make it an acceptable or unchangeable part of who we are. Whether we see it as part of our nature or simply as something we “can’t fix”, this lie helps us avoid feeling responsible. We can’t stop it because it’s just too deeply embedded.
What we don’t like to admit is that God is the one who made us. We were intended to look like, act like, and be like Him (Genesis 1:26 & 27; 1 John 3:2). When we say, “that is just the way I am”, we are implying that God made a mistake in forming us or was taken by surprise by our struggles and He is powerless to help. Thankfully, we are dead wrong on these points. He specializes in making broken things new. He either is or is not God.
Admit the problem to the Lord, then ask for and seek transformation!
We will conclude next week with destructive lie #5.
