Every so often I fall into a place of complacency, where I think to myself, "I got this, I'm getting pretty good at being a Christian. I am a good person. I don't really sin, I'm just here going about my Father's work...." (Are you picking up the older brother of the Prodigal son vibes yet....?)
Then my bubble bursts and I get a reality check, like I did yesterday. I am reminded that simply being a good person is not enough!
It started like any other day, except that I made a decision that although in itself, was not a bad choice, but here's the rub...I made the decision without even considering to discuss it first with my husband. Now, it's not at all that I need his permission to do things but as his wife, it is completely disrespectful to his position as the head of our family and my closest friend and kind of just down right rude that I hadn't even told him what was on my mind up until that point!
When he mentioned that he was upset, I was genuinely taken aback! I was completely caught off guard and like any other normal human being my first reaction was defensive, I mean I didn't actually do anything wrong! Then the Spirit started to nudge me, you know that feeling, that small still voice that speaks Truth to you? He told me to stop and consider the situation from my husband's point of view and that's when I realized that my actions had been completely self-centered and that I hadn't once taken him into consideration. Guilty as charged.
But oh, it didn't stop there....I was on a roll! I was reading a joke that I found incredibly funny and decide to pass it on to my family's chat group. It was a dig at parents who spoil the youngest sibling and believe me, I was laughing at myself too because, as I mother of three, I can so relate. Innocent fun, right? Umm, there was a swearword in the joke, a mild one (is there such a thing?) that my brain had completely glossed over because, let's be real, we are surrounded by ungodly things in our everyday life that we can't always avoid and it can be very easy to become desensitized to things, such as "minor" swearwords!
Once again, it was my husband who called me out on it. He pointed out to me that some of my family members might find the joke offensive and reminded me that the kids are on the chat group too! Oops, guilty again! Once again my actions had been completely self-centered, not taking anyone else into consideration before acting on my impulses.
And again the Spirit spoke to my heart, reminding me that our Christian life is a daily walk and yes, sometimes we trip and stumble but we get up and we keep going. I am so grateful that our righteousness is not based on our own goodness, because if that were the case, none of us would stand, none of us would be worthy of His presence.
I am so grateful that we serve a loving and forgiving God who looks at us and sees Christ in us, not the awfulness of our own self-centered natures!
You see, God loves us just the way we are but He also loves us too much to leave us that way. So when (yes in my life it's a "when", not an "if") we fall into a place of complacency, we can be assured that He will call us out on it and burst our bubble because He loves us too much not too!
Love and Blessings
Charlene