"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:8-9
Sometimes it is baffling to me how far we will go into self-deception. Even when we know, intellectually and spiritually, that this action or that action is harmful to us, we keep doing it, and even tell ourselves that God is fine with it, or that somehow it is actually good for us. It's like smoking... we see all the cancer warnings, hear about or read the research... see the victims of lung cancer... but we continue to tell ourselves that that won't happen to us, or even worse... what is a few years of life anyway? :) "At least I'm not doing that OTHER sin." or "Is ending up in the terrestrial or telestial kingdom really that bad?" Scary things. We're harming ourselves and limiting ourselves, and we give up hope that we can ever be more than we are. Instead of trying to convince ourselves that we're fine, we can just admit that we are on the wrong side of the line, and then start the process of getting back. Dispelling the self-deception is the hardest part... we like our cigarettes, and we tell ourselves how hard it is to quit, that it isn't worth it. But isn't it? Isn't it worth living and being with our families, and having life and possibilities before us... not to mention what we will learn about ourselves in the process? It is worth it, and more so when we consider eternity. Whatever the sin, whatever the walls we have built, casting off the self-deception is better than living in the darkness... and working toward the best we can become is worth it. There are some hurdles that we never think that we can overcome... but once we do, there isn't anything as scary or as difficult, and we are basically supermen and superwomen, knowing that we can do anything at all after facing that. :) God will forgive us and cleanse us, if we can just accept the truth of where we are, and desire to be in a better place.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:8-9
Sometimes it is baffling to me how far we will go into self-deception. Even when we know, intellectually and spiritually, that this action or that action is harmful to us, we keep doing it, and even tell ourselves that God is fine with it, or that somehow it is actually good for us. It's like smoking... we see all the cancer warnings, hear about or read the research... see the victims of lung cancer... but we continue to tell ourselves that that won't happen to us, or even worse... what is a few years of life anyway? :) "At least I'm not doing that OTHER sin." or "Is ending up in the terrestrial or telestial kingdom really that bad?" Scary things. We're harming ourselves and limiting ourselves, and we give up hope that we can ever be more than we are. Instead of trying to convince ourselves that we're fine, we can just admit that we are on the wrong side of the line, and then start the process of getting back. Dispelling the self-deception is the hardest part... we like our cigarettes, and we tell ourselves how hard it is to quit, that it isn't worth it. But isn't it? Isn't it worth living and being with our families, and having life and possibilities before us... not to mention what we will learn about ourselves in the process? It is worth it, and more so when we consider eternity. Whatever the sin, whatever the walls we have built, casting off the self-deception is better than living in the darkness... and working toward the best we can become is worth it. There are some hurdles that we never think that we can overcome... but once we do, there isn't anything as scary or as difficult, and we are basically supermen and superwomen, knowing that we can do anything at all after facing that. :) God will forgive us and cleanse us, if we can just accept the truth of where we are, and desire to be in a better place.
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