This is ONE thing that all Christians simply must know

Never make the assumption that people are interested in doing the right thing.

There are oodles of examples in us all that suggest we rationalise some wrong things and make them permissible for us to engage in.  Test this idea and I think you’ll find it true in your life and in all lives.

While this presents no problem for those who justify a wrong attitude and behaviour, this is a real problem for the Christian.

On the one hand, they’ve agreed at salvation that they’re a sinner needing saving; that they cannot save themselves, nor can they rid themselves of their sin — they completely agree that it’s part of their human condition.  BUT, in competition with this idea is the desire that God puts there — the conviction of the Holy Spirit — to arrest the Christian mid-step with an attack of conscience at the wrong thing they’re doing.  It’s a sign that the Spirit is alive and well in us.

My point is this: this is something that as disciples we need to be continually aware of.

Another way of looking at this is, all human beings are hunted by the enemy of God; if it’s not hardness of heart that the enemy distracts us with, it’s laziness, or temptation, or argumentativeness, or entitlement, or something else.  Read C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters?

I discovered this afresh in my own life recently.

God healed me of hardness of heart over a matter I’d struggled with for over five years.  It’s gone.  Finally.  I prayed for it to leave over all that time, and now it’s gone.  But something’s crept up in close to me, and that’s a particular form of temptation I’ve not previously struggled with — well, not like this.

But I’m glad I see it.

It’s as if the enemy has said, “Wormwood, listen here old chap, we’re in a spot of trouble.  The hardness of heart in your patient has gone.  See to it that you afflict him with something else he’ll fall for — because, as we both know, he’s hopeless with these things.”

One thing we all must know — all us Christians.  That is, we’re those who truly care about doing the right things to the very last corner of our lives, yet without the expectation of perfection as we continue to face the forgiveness of Christ when we stumble.

Whether it’s the world, our flesh or Satan matters little — we’ll all struggle in our sin.

If we’re honest, we’ll be able to see it.  And if we’re humble, we’ll accept it, repenting when we need to, partaking of the divine grace of forgiveness when there’s the need.

The one thing to remember is the enemy continues to stalk us as prey to keep us in our sin, but we serve an awesome God, and awareness together with humble repentance will ensure the enemy doesn’t stand a chance.  Accepting this is patience that wards against frustration.

Now, go visit John 16:33.

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash