Sinner

Sin is described as a violation of moral law or code. Sin is also defined as disobedience to God. I am defining sin as “missing the mark”. I have a goal to live a righteous life and I miss that mark often. I stand before the Lord often wearing and bearing my shame. I am not perfect. I am a broken mess so much of the time. People that I know and meet every day don’t know what is going on behind the scenes in my mind. The Lord knows my heart like no one else. He speaks about the heart in Jeremiah. Check this out….

⁹ “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
    and desperately wicked.
    Who really knows how bad it is?
¹⁰ But I, the Lord, search all hearts
    and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards,
    according to what their actions deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10 NLT)

We as humans only see what is on the outside, but the Lord sees the heart. The Lord sees my motive as well as my actions.  I wish I could report that my heart is always pure and always righteous, but it isn’t.  Check this out…

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT))

I want to live in the light of His Word. I want His Word to convict my heart. I want His Word to shape my heart. I want His Word to come out of me in my words and actions today. It is way too easy to listen to the enemy and become judgmental, hard and hate filled. It takes a lot more work to consistently confess my sin and surrender my will to the Lord. I think it takes a truckload of humility to walk in the light before Him. Check this out…

⁸ If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. ⁹ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. (1 John 1:8-10 NLT)

I sometimes wish that I could live up to the expectations that others have of me. I have expectations of some spiritual giants of the faith. I can’t put that pressure on them as they are humans with a deceitful heart too. It’s easy to judge “appearances”, but it’s impossible to know motives until it’s often too late. I need to keep a close check on my motives because they reveal the status of my heart. My heart is where the battle between right and wrong take place.

I’m a sinner for sure. I am saved by the amazing grace of God that I didn’t earn, and I sure don’t deserve. God is so generous and full of forgiveness and I’m so thankful to be a life-long recipient of that grace and love.

Pressing On!

Dwayne