It's A Mistake

When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners ?"  But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. "But go and learn what this means : 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."  Matthew 9:11-13

With only a couple of weeks into this new year and I have made my first big mistake at work of 2014.  I am certainly not proud or boasting here, just accepting the fact that I am only human and do make mistakes; in fact, I make a lot of them.

One of the most common misconception about Christians in that all believers should be perfect.  Many of us go to extremes to pretend that we have every facet of our lives in order, but the truth is that while we are all forgiven, we all  still have many shortcomings.

Salvation through Christ doesn't change the fact that sin is still present in our lives.  When we become believers, God forgives us and sees as righteous.  We must continue to renew ourselves and fight the ongoing battle against sin while we are on this earth.

We must be careful not to put up a facade and cover up our shortcomings so that we appear to be “good Christians” to the outside world.  Instead, we must recognize and confess to God, our sinfulness, so that we can be forgiven when we do screw up and fall short of his glory.

No One Is To Blame

The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases; His compassions never end.  They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant!  “My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in Him.  Lamentations 3:13

On occasion, we all are guilty of placing the blame for our mistakes on someone or something else.  This behavior is particularly easy to pinpoint with two young boys.  The other morning a toy flew across our den and hit our youngest son in the head, causing him to cry.   When confronted about the mysterious ‘flying toy,’ our oldest said, “Daddy, I didn't do it.  The toy just lifted off of the ground on its own and flew across the room and hit Elijah in the head.”  I must say even though I didn't buy it, that was a pretty creative excuse…

Sometimes I struggle with wrongly placing the blame on God for some of my own problems.  I often accuse God of being unfaithful or punishing me when I am the one who is making careless mistakes.   The truth is, God provides for us each and every day, regardless of us being aware of it or not.  God’s grace, mercy, kindness, and love are always with each of us during the good times and the bad times, but when faced with trouble, it is easy to feel like God doesn't care about us.

Many things change in this world, but you can rest assured that God never changes…His grace, mercy, kindness, and love are constant and new with every new morning!