Frankly Speaking,
14 I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. I Corinthians 4:14 NLT
GOOD WOUNDS! ~ How do you handle being corrected by someone who cares? According to Pew Research, 65% of American adults believe that “people are too easily offended.” What if a caring friend exposes sin in your life and calls you out in love? They are right, but it hurts. What would you do? It seems many just want to go to church to be reminded what good people we are. This is anti-biblical. The Bible confronts every human being declaring each of us as a terrible sinner not fit for heaven. “There is none righteous.” (read Romans 3:1-23)
Some people are ok with a pastor saying, “Well, we’re all just sinners, right?” However, the Bible declares this TRUTH, JESUS’ death is the only way we can be saved from hell. Every person on Earth needs JESUS! Feathers ruffled yet? More biblical honesty ahead…
Guess what? You are a no good filthy, dirty, lying, cheating, selfish sinner. Yes, I am too! Without that painful truth as our starting point, we cannot understand why we so desperately need JESUS. If we believe the lie that we are pretty good, then we think we almost make it to heaven on our own. We are almost good enough! That is a lie from the pit of hell! The devil wants us to believe that because he does not want us to realize how urgently and desperately, we need THE LORD JESUS to forgive us and cleanse us from all our sin. We need A NEW LIFE!
Yes, we need encouragement sometimes. However, we are in desperate need of correction as well. If all you hear at church is positivity and encouragement… RUN!!! The Bible is a book of rebuke and correction as well as encouragement! We need to hear it when we are wrong. Yes, it hurts, but genuine repentance brings healing! 😊
LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS
Blessings in CHRIST,
Pastor Wes
I PETER 3:15
readyforafreshstart 