Over the course of their lives, people pick up bad habits. They may not even know they are bad habits. Strong, faithful Christians, who might have decades of Christianity behind them, can even fall prey to this problem. The most invisible kind? Lying.
"Oh, I was just being politically correct!" is one. "I could not have told my wife that! It would have hurt her feelings." That's another. "Everyone tells white lies to get through the day." That one might be the most popular. Do you see what I mean? Normal people, sometimes Christians, changing their behavior over time to the point where they don't even know it is wrong.
So what's the solution? You start monitoring your thoughts more closely. You basically set up a security system in your brain. You ask Jesus to show you the "leaks" and then when He points them out you promise to fix them. Pretty simple. No heavy lifting required. Some of you are already thinking about the next level of entrenched sin...so here we go.
Culturally accepted entrenched sin. Sin that your community or your family or your friends might constantly tell you is acceptable...but you know in your heart it is not and that you will have to answer for it eventually. For some countries this could be something like adultery. For other countries it might be things like beating your child to discipline him or her. And in still other countries the problem could be far worse. How to turn the tide? Bring in the army. Bring in the prayer groups. Let people like me know what is going on. The prayers of Christ's faithful can change anything. Before you give up on the cause, bring it to us, because we can help!
"Oh, I was just being politically correct!" is one. "I could not have told my wife that! It would have hurt her feelings." That's another. "Everyone tells white lies to get through the day." That one might be the most popular. Do you see what I mean? Normal people, sometimes Christians, changing their behavior over time to the point where they don't even know it is wrong.
So what's the solution? You start monitoring your thoughts more closely. You basically set up a security system in your brain. You ask Jesus to show you the "leaks" and then when He points them out you promise to fix them. Pretty simple. No heavy lifting required. Some of you are already thinking about the next level of entrenched sin...so here we go.
Culturally accepted entrenched sin. Sin that your community or your family or your friends might constantly tell you is acceptable...but you know in your heart it is not and that you will have to answer for it eventually. For some countries this could be something like adultery. For other countries it might be things like beating your child to discipline him or her. And in still other countries the problem could be far worse. How to turn the tide? Bring in the army. Bring in the prayer groups. Let people like me know what is going on. The prayers of Christ's faithful can change anything. Before you give up on the cause, bring it to us, because we can help!