Friday; April 17

I have spent more time watching and listening to myself over the last few weeks than I have in the past several years combined.  In preparing for our online services and classes I have had to edit a lot of audio and video.  While I always knew I wasn’t perfect, I have gained a new appreciation for how fallible I am.  As I have edited, I have become more aware of my stutters, pauses, mispronunciations and those times when I just don’t make a lot of sense.  In all honesty, I will be glad when we get back to being live and in person.
As I thought about my own self-critiquing, I got to thinking about the Apostle Paul.  Here is a guy that was at the top of his profession, but assessed his imperfection by stating, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24).  It appears that the closer he got to God, the further he found himself from being where he hoped to be.  Given my recent experiences with self-critique, I could understand if he chose to lose hope of ever being good, but then again, I believe this gave him an important understanding of grace.  You see, he may have seen his imperfections, but he felt the forgiveness of God.  Sure, he lamented his failures, but he also proclaimed, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Let’s be honest with ourselves, but let’s never lose hope.  God knows our limitations better than we know them ourselves – but, He loves us enough to overlook them.
Think About It!

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