Hello again! As usual, I pray that all is well and all will be well in your lives.
I thought we were going to start a series talking about the trinity this week, but that’s not the direction in which I was led. Instead let’s talk about honesty.
Everyone starts off with a set of instinctual morals. Namely, stuff like not to lie, steal or kill, and when we break our morals, we are convicted. Now, there is only one thing that truly scares me in this world, and that would be to not have (lack of) conviction. When I see a person with no conviction for their actions it terrifies me, because that person cannot be reached, they’re essentially lost.
What does conviction have to do with being honest? Well, we tend to only focus on the convictions of our morals outwardly; as to not wrong others. However, we tend to not apply the same convictions to ourselves. Thus, we wrong ourselves by accepting our own lies: conviction needs to be acknowledged inner personally as well. We lie to ourselves when we reject truth and conviction and say things like: it doesn’t matter, it’ll be OK, we don’t need to, it doesn’t apply to us, we’re an exception. We shrug them and are not honest with ourselves. The focus here, the shrugging, is the act of lying.
A lot of people in the Christian faith are taught that pride was the first sin and the sin that caused Lucifer to fall. Yes, pride was the sin that caused him to fall, but it was not the first sin.
“…for he is a liar and the father of lies” – John 8:44 (NIV)
The first sin was a lie: Lucifer lied to himself. He told himself that he was fine and did not need to be humble. By believing in that lie, he shrugged his conviction and that shrugging led to pride.
So, per the title of this post, be honest with yourself. In addition to your moral convictions, someone may point out a personal issue to you. Those issues can be character flaws, bad habits, bad decisions and more. It may be pointed out by a parent, spouse, pastor, close friend, a blogger 🙂 It’ll be someone who truly cares about you. And, if you are older, you’ve probably herd it many times before… Is what that person (people) saying the truth?
There is no scripture that talks in detail about the fall of the angels, so this is my opinion: knowing God and as merciful and loving as he is, he would have given them many warnings, chances to repent, and correct the situation. Before every destruction, God gives a warning. And, He absolutely gives us many warnings.
When something is not right in your life, do not dismiss your convictions or the warnings.
When the truth comes, do not dismiss the convictions or the warnings.
When Jesus reaches out, do not dismiss His conviction power and the calling.
When you shrug these and lie to yourself, you eat away at the conviction power. You take one step away into self-darkness where you cannot be reached. In all instances, humble yourself before Him, confess to Him who you are, and that you need His help.
Remember, it was a lie that brought down Lucifer and is angels. It was a lie that brought down Adam and Eve. And, a lie can also bring you down. A lie is a lie, even if it’s to yourself.
May God bless and keep all who read this.
May God bless and keep all brothers and sisters, new and old, in the faith in His name.
With His love and mine,
Chrom