Some people would read my post last week and think God is cruel or judging me to point out the ways in which I was being unkind and unjust towards others. They would say God should over-look my calling slow drivers “sloth” and reckless drivers “Nasty man,” because I said this in the privacy of my car. People might say that I live a “mostly good life,” so why would God ask me to stop doing something that appealed to my flesh. Yet God knows that feeding my flesh, even a little, leads to death, and He doesn’t want that destruction for me. Please join me as I explore God’s mercy in correcting me.
I’ve heard people say God is too picky, and he should not expect perfection from his children (Matt. 5:48, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”) They would ask how can God expect sinful people to be perfect, when His own Scripture says in Psalms 78:39, “He remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns.” And God says in Psalm 103:14, “For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.” If we are frail sinners, why would God demand so much from us?
Actually, God does not demand our obedience; he invites it. God does not even force us to accept his Good News of Salvation. When Jesus sent out his 12 disciples, he said that “if a town does not welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned these people to their fate,” Luke 9:5. Jesus did not force these people to repent of their sins and accept his salvation for them.
Furthermore, the verse about perfection actually means to be complete, not perfect in the sense of being flawless, because God understands our weaknesses. We can only be complete in the Lord. But our flesh lies and says we can be complete in other things. Yet like cotton candy, those other things look filling, but they will still leave us as hungry as a person would feel after a meal of exclusively cotton candy.
This is why God reveals my sins to me. He wants to fill me with the best, his love. He wants my personality to be true and joyful, not scorning and unfairly judging others. He knows what my flesh does not understand; I cannot be happy when I live in my sinful nature. My flesh may think it is happy when it gets its way. But revenge, bitterness, unforgiveness, unfair judging all lead to long term sorrow. There is no joy of the Spirit when I quench the Spirit with my sin.
So when God points out my sins, even seemingly small ones, he acts as a loving father who wants the best for me. He loves me by helping me to become the most pure Debbie I can be. It is when I am the most filled with the Holy Spirit that I am my most true self, and the most full of God’s love for myself and for others. Then I have peace and contentment.
This was a short post, yet I pray I have blessed you with its simple message. Others may one day criticize God for correcting you. Your own flesh may rise up in frustration. If these things happen, remember that God adores you and wants the best for you, just like he does for me. He will guide you, never because he is angry, but because he loves you (Proverbs 3:12, “The Lord corrects those he loves, even as a father disciplines a child in whom he delights.) Sometimes you are not even wrong, but God wants to refine you to be a more pure version of yourself. He will always do this in love, even as he does with me. May the Lord bless you this week! Thanks for joining me in this post.