KEY PRINCIPLES FROM THIS MESSAGE:
A good name underpins everything in this world.
The “good” in a good name is defined by God, not man.
Emotional Salvation Isn’t Enough – blog 7/26/2019
No matter how emotionally relieved a person is to know that God will bear their burdens, His promises of deliverance are the result of being saved, judicially, not the cause.
The above statement is an important one for several reasons. I believe it’s easy to “sell” a person on Jesus Christ if He becomes a person’s savior from emotional pain. While this pain is very real – in the case of deeply scarred individuals it is ever present and agonizing – it is nonetheless merely a function of someone else’s sin acting out against the injured. Before a person is saved, positionally/judicially speaking, the only hope they have of deliverance from said pain is to cope with it using natural remedies (e.g., worldly counseling), which never sufficiently heals them because only God’s grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9).
It’s very important that we believers understand the subtlety being presented here in this blog. It’s too easy to fall into the trap of focusing on the pain someone is in rather than addressing the real issue, which isn’t how badly they’ve been sinned against and therefore damaged, but rather their own sin. When we speak about pain and sin in the same sentence to others, we must do so very articulately, each topic having its own purpose. Why the distinction? Because there are a lot of people out there suffering miserable lives who keep buying the lie that deliverance from pain is finding the right savior from sin borne in others.
We never escape sin in this world, that is, the sinful nature of others, or its effects. Salvation doesn’t promise such things; rather, it promises escape from the dominion of sin in our own lives.
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I fear that many people have sought deliverance from childhood pain and believe to have found it in Jesus Christ in the absence of true salvation. The demands from God never waver. A person must address their own sinfulness before His holiness. Emotional relief may come with sanctification, but sanctification must begin where it begins with every other human being who’s ever been saved, with repentance. “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent” (Acts 17:30b).
We can never compromise what we discover to be true in God’s Word in order to maintain a worldly definition.
The Best Kind of Motivation – blog 6/26/26
Contrary to popular belief, the end doesn’t justify the means. According to God’s Word, a person’s motivation matters even more than what they achieve in this world. God considers a person’s heart (their motivation) as paramount. Can/does God use evil for good? Yes (e.g., Genesis 50:20), but that’s never our business, so we cannot justify an outcome if we get there with wrong motives.
A good name must be arrived at in the right way (God sees the heart).
Respect for integrity is universal. Respect breeds peace in the community. Lies break down peaceful relations. Trust is key.
Your relationships will reflect the quality of your integrity.