God is Not Zeus. Grace is not the Easter Bunny.
[The following is an excerpt from TOP10 Marriage Tips for Smart Singes Part 3: The Two Makes & Two Lets. RELEASING THIS MONTH OF JUNE! Check out the entire series here.]
If you’re anything like me, every time you fail you want to beat yourself up and then give yourself a good guilt trip. This is not of the Lord.
Why do I do it then? Because…
1. I deserve a good beat down and guilt trip.
2. Being startled at myself for failing makes me feel better, since my disappointment is based on the idea that I’m actually a better person than I appear to be.
3. If I get mad at myself, maybe God won’t.
Whatever the reason, the Godly man doesn’t beat himself up over his sin, as he wallows in his well-deserved shame. He confesses his sin (Ps 32:4-5) and he draws near to God (Ps 32:6, 9).
It’s one of the most unbelievable truths. If you’re still holding on to your own poor choices, God stands ready to forgive and restore you the instant you’re ready.
How can that be?
For starters, our God is something Poseidon or Hades was not. The gods of Greek mythology were, at their very root, selfish; causing them to respond to offense with anger, vengeance, pouting, scheming or some combination thereof. You know – the way we respond to offense.
In contrast, our God has proven himself selfless, to the point of accepting the required penalty for our sin at His own expense. Therefore, He responds to offense (once sincerely confessed) with grace, forgiveness, patience and redemption. Of course, we acknowledge these attributes of God all the time, but when it comes right down to it, we often believe in them as much as we do the Easter Bunny. They really seem too good to be true, more like a flannel-graph story than real life. This is especially if you’ve never seen someone demonstrate patience under pressure or forgiveness after cruel exploitation. Regardless of difficulty, believing is pretty much the key.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)
You must believe our God is more wonderful than you could imagine. Forget about whatever choices you made in the past and think about this: If you had been the one who actually carried out Christ’s crucifixion and then stood back and mocked Him as His precious blood dripped from your filthy hands, He would pray for forgiveness on your behalf, before you even asked for it. Even if you didn’t want it.
Do you believe in a God like this? Do you live like you believe it?
If you find it impossible to believe in a God like that, you need to question whether your God is the God of the Bible or one of your own making, no more real than Zeus with his signature lightning bolt.
[The is an excerpt from TOP10 Marriage Tips for Smart Singes Part 3: The Two Makes & Two Lets. RELEASING THIS MONTH OF JUNE! Check out the entire series here.]
If you’re anything like me, every time you fail you want to beat yourself up and then give yourself a good guilt trip. This is not of the Lord.
Why do I do it then? Because…
1. I deserve a good beat down and guilt trip.
2. Being startled at myself for failing makes me feel better, since my disappointment is based on the idea that I’m actually a better person than I appear to be.
3. If I get mad at myself, maybe God won’t.
Whatever the reason, the Godly man doesn’t beat himself up over his sin, as he wallows in his well-deserved shame. He confesses his sin (Ps 32:4-5) and he draws near to God (Ps 32:6, 9).
It’s one of the most unbelievable truths. If you’re still holding on to your own poor choices, God stands ready to forgive and restore you the instant you’re ready.
How can that be?
For starters, our God is something Poseidon or Hades was not. The gods of Greek mythology were, at their very root, selfish; causing them to respond to offense with anger, vengeance, pouting, scheming or some combination thereof. You know – the way we respond to offense.
In contrast, our God has proven himself selfless, to the point of accepting the required penalty for our sin at His own expense. Therefore, He responds to offense (once sincerely confessed) with grace, forgiveness, patience and redemption. Of course, we acknowledge these attributes of God all the time, but when it comes right down to it, we often believe in them as much as we do the Easter Bunny. They really seem too good to be true, more like a flannel-graph story than real life. This is especially if you’ve never seen someone demonstrate patience under pressure or forgiveness after cruel exploitation. Regardless of difficulty, believing is pretty much the key.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)
You must believe our God is more wonderful than you could imagine. Forget about whatever choices you made in the past and think about this: If you had been the one who actually carried out Christ’s crucifixion and then stood back and mocked Him as His precious blood dripped from your filthy hands, He would pray for forgiveness on your behalf, before you even asked for it. Even if you didn’t want it.
Do you believe in a God like this? Do you live like you believe it?
If you find it impossible to believe in a God like that, you need to question whether your God is the God of the Bible or one of your own making, no more real than Zeus with his signature lightning bolt.
[The is an excerpt from TOP10 Marriage Tips for Smart Singes Part 3: The Two Makes & Two Lets. RELEASING THIS MONTH OF JUNE! Check out the entire series here.]
Labels: TOP10 Marriage Tips (Part 3: The Two Makes and Two Lets)
posted by Future Marriage University at
10:28 PM
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