Did You Know Life Hurts?

October 18, 2009 at 1:27 pm (Uncategorized)

We are smack dab in the middle of a series on Sunday mornings called “Life Hurts, But God Heals”.  We all know that pain is part of life.  But what is pain?  Is it the homework that has to be done every night?  Maybe it’s the disagreement that you had with your best friend.  Or, maybe it’s the sudden death of a close relative that hits you when you least expected it too.

I have heard about painful experiences from friends who have lost jobs and have debilitating diseases and family fights and more.  I don’t want to hear about anymore pain.  I want to block it out of my mind.  Yea, denial is the ticket.  Deny that any pain is real and it just goes away, free from any impact on my life.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t deal with the pain, it just pushes back the time when I will have to face it.

So much of the pain in my life is from my selfishness and my being prone to sin.  I can’t blame it on the economy or not getting the latest immunization.  So dealing with it is also quite unique.  To deal with my junk, I need to learn how to confess and give it up to God.  In the last few weeks I have participated with groups that were doing a moral inventory of life choices that were sinful or selfish or morally wrong.  Doing this once was difficult.  Twice was uncomfortable.  But three times was really challenging.  I don’t like dredging this stuff up, over and over.  I mean, it’s been dealt with.  God forgave me.  I confessed them.  I agree that they are wrong and not for me to hold onto.

So why do I drift back into them?  Why am I prone to certain sins?  I believe that these kinds of sins can become spiritual strongholds.  I don’t want them to be there, but for me, I am always at risk when these sins present themselves.  However, I am aware that a few things help me to avoid those sins.  One is when I am discipling someone.  I just want to live righteously so they know I’m coming clean with them.  Another is when I share openly with a close friend how I’m doing in my walk with Christ.  Another is when I’m involved in serving the Lord or being involved in an important ministry event.  I don’t want to have anything in my life that might hinder God from using me.

What helps you to avoid sin and live for Christ?  What do you find helps you to be on track with godly living?  I would love to know what anyone is thinking so reply back and let me know.

I didn’t think I would like this series, but God is showing me that being transparent and vulnerable is good for me and good for all of us.  Keep loving Jesus on the journey!

Pastor Mark