How should we view our Imperfections?

We all sin. We all fall short. We all need grace. Every day. However... when this occurs, how are we to view ourselves? Where do we go next? What must we remember? That's what we'll be addressing today from the Bible.

Episode Transcript

(00:21):
A great today. I know thatif you live in Westport, or you
live in Indiana at all, specificallywhere I'm at, there's a lot of
viruses going around. So I amnot one hundred percent today, and I
know many people, such as mywife and kids, who aren't one hundred
percent today. So if there's anythingthat I could start off by asking anyone,

(00:43):
it would be for the prayers thatwe would get back to one hundred.
Well, let's be honest, noneof us are one hundred percent ever,
at least I'm not. I don'tknow many people who would admit that
they are. But please keep usin your prayers, keep those who you
know are sick in your prayers.Prayer accomplishes much, and it's very important
that Christians continue to pray even whenwe don't feel like it. So one

(01:06):
of the questions I want to askus today is how do we respond to
our own imperfections. We all knowthat we're not perfect. We all know
that we need grace, we allknow that we need a savior. But
if you've been a Christian even justthree to five days, you know that
the temptation to sin is still there. You know that you still fall short

(01:30):
every day, whether it be inde sin, whether it be tempted to
sin. We all know that westill fall short after becoming a Christian.
So how we think about ourselves andhow we address that in our day to
day walk with God, it matters. Because the Satan can get you and
I to think that our imperfections defineus, then he's got us where he

(01:53):
wants us. Because if he canget us to think that our sins,
even of sins we commit after becominga Christian, define us, that's bad
news. That's going to cause usanxiety, that's going to cause us stress.
Depending on your church background, youmay have been taught to believe that.

(02:15):
You know you have to walk oneggshells around God because if if you
fall short, if you if youget caught in a habit of sin,
you might lose your salvation or thatproves you were never to save. You
were never saved with to begin.I don't agree with either of you those
viewpoints because we're commanded to not worryabout anything. I've I expressed that in

(02:39):
the last last podcast episode, Paulsays rejoice always again. I say rejoice,
be anxious for nothing, but insteadby everything and everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving, that your requestsbe made known to God, and the
peace of God will guard your heartsand minds in Christ Jesus. So,
anyway, circling back to the question, how should we respond to our own

(03:00):
imperfections, I want to read toyou from Romans chapter six, verse twelve
to fourteen. Here's what the scripturessay. Do not let sin control the
way you live. Do not givein to its lustful desires. Do not
let any part of your body becomea tool of wickedness to be used for
sinning. Instead, give yourselves completelyto God since you have been given new

(03:25):
life, and use your body asa tool to do what is right for
the glory of God. Sin isno longer Sin is no longer your master,
for you are no longer subject tothe law which enslaves you to sin.
Instead, you are free by God'sgrace. Now you may be hearing
that, and you're saying to yourself, well, that sounds wonderful, that

(03:46):
sounds great. However, in mylife I'm not experiencing freedom. In fact,
I am still in chains. Well, let me correct you with saying
this. When you came to Jesus, he did set you free. But
oftentimes Christians, if we're not inour word daily, if we're not in

(04:06):
the Bible daily, if we're notmeeting with Christians, if we're not building
ourselves up to become more like christChristians, often you could say backslide.
That may be a wrong word touse, but Christians backslide and then they
become slaves to sins that they wereonce set free from all over again.

(04:28):
And that's not what we're to doas Christians. We've been given a new
life in Christ, and we arecommanded to abide in Christ John chapter fifteen,
because Jesus wants us to bear fruit. But nonetheless, how should we
respond to our own imperfections. InRomans six, Paul says, don't let
sin control the way that you live. Now. Notice here Paul doesn't say
that you're never going to sind.Clearly, if you read the context of

(04:51):
Romans six to seven, Paul hadhis own struggles even after becoming a Christian.
Is the Holy Spirit and his fleshwere at war with each other.
He wanted to do right, buthe realized there was a there was a
war going on within himself to dowhat is right. We are commanded not
to let sin control the way thatwe live. We're not to give into

(05:15):
us lustful desires. Now that meanswe have a choice. If you've heard
any of the sermons I've given fromthe pulpit, I've been pretty clear that
the Bible teaches that we have achoice. We make choices each and every
day. We choose what clothes we'regonna wear. We choose what we eat,
We choose the things that we listento on the radio, we choose
what TV TV shows we watch.We choose whether or not we let sin

(05:41):
control the way that we live.We are commanded not to let sin control
that the way the way that welive. Paul goes on again in Romans
six, don't let any part ofyour body become a tool for wickedness.
So I want to ask you,have you been wilfully dabbing in temptation?

(06:02):
Have you wilfully been playing around withsin? Or you've been watching things,
or you've been listening to things,or you've been hanging out with people.
They who present temptation to you.You say to yourself, well, I'm
a Christian. Even though they maysin, it's not a big deal.

(06:23):
It's well it's it's a big deal, but it's not a big deal for
me because I'm not gonna be temptedto sin. I won't struggle with that
or I won't fall into that temptation. If that's you, I encourage you
to be on guard, because that'swhere Satan wants you. Paul to the
Inspiration of the Holy Spirit tells usnot to let sin control the way that

(06:45):
we live, and we and whenwe put ourselves in situations, when we
willfully put ourselves in situations where weknow that God doesn't approve of the stuff
going on, we're liable to giveinto temptation. Okay. First John chapter
one, verse eight to ten coursesa context here. However, nonetheless,
this truth applies not only to thecontext in which John was writing, but

(07:08):
it also applies to us as well. First John Chapter one, verse eight
to ten. He says, ifwe claim we have no sin, we
are only fooling ourselves and not livingin the truth. But if we confess
our sins to him, he isfaithful and just to forgive us all of
our sins and to cleanse us fromall wickedness. If we claim we have
not sinned, we are calling Goda liar and showing that his word has

(07:32):
no place in our hearts. SoI want to be crystal clear about something
judicially. Positionally, when you placeyour faith in Jesus Christ, you were
justified, you were eternally saved,you are eternally secure for many reasons that
I've talked about in prior podcast episodesand also from the pulpit. But there's

(07:54):
a fellowship on this earth that wehave that we need to maintain between ourselves
and God. And when we choosethe sin that hinders our fellowship with God,
that doesn't cause us to lose oursalvation because again we're said by Gracelane
to faith alone and Christ alone,and we're kept that way as well.
But sin does hinder our fellowship withGod. John says, if we claim

(08:18):
that we have no sin, we'reonly fooling ourselves and not living in the
truth. Now, I have notmet a person who says that they're perfect.
I'm sure they're out there, butI've never met someone that says I
have no sin in my life.I'm sure they're out there. But if

(08:39):
you believe that about yourself, ifyou believe that you have no sin,
even after becoming a Christian that youdon't struggle with sin, Well, you're
fooling yourself, is what John says. Yes, positionally, our new creation,
the godly seed that God is putin our hearts. We are a
new creation. Nothing can change that. The redeemed part of us, the

(09:05):
true Us. Yes, we areredeemed, and we have nothing to do
with sin. That's because we're coveringthe blood of Christ. However, because
we're still in the flesh, becausewe live in this world, we will
struggle with sin, period, butit's a choice as to whether or not
we give in to that. Sowhat we need to do we need to
recognize our own sinfulness while at thesame time aiming to live more and more

(09:30):
like Christ. Now you may bethinking to yourself, Gary, you have
no idea what I'm struggling with.You have no idea the hell that I
need to get over. Baby steps, my friend, Baby steps, Trust
in the Lord. Lean not onyour own understanding, but lean on him.

(09:50):
Baby steps. Walk with God,trust in him and spend time with
him, Fellowship with the through Hisword in prayer with Christians, because when
you do that, that will helpyou become more and more like Christ.
So when it comes to the imperfectionsthat we have, we need to do

(10:11):
a few things. First thing weneed to do is we need to recognize
that we are eternally forgiven period.Jesus has taken all of our sins and
He's nailed them to the cross becausehe knew that we couldn't fix that problem.
God knew we couldn't fix that problem. He's taken care of that for
us COUSSS Chapter two. But whilewe wait to spend eternity with Jesus,

(10:35):
to spend eternity with our God,we must remember to be on our guard.
Satan runs rampant in this world,and he will tempt us in any
way that he can. May Godhelp us to view our imperfections in light
of the way that he views them. God is our heavenly Father. He

(10:56):
never leaves us, he never forsakesus. He's always with us. Regards
of how bad we just screw itall up. He never leaves us.
And I know that may be hardfor you to understand, especially if you
grew up with parents who left youor who who cared nothing about you.
I want you to know that that'snot who God is. That's not who
your heavenly Father is your heavenly Fathertruly does love you for who you are.

(11:20):
But if there is a sin inyour life, he wants you through
his the strength that he'll provide you. He wants you to spend fellowship with
him. He wants you to spendtime with him through fellowship. He wants
you to turn away from those sins. He doesn't want you to put yourself
under control. You need to followhim baby steps though baby steps. So

(11:43):
when it comes with you and ourimperfections, we need to understand that Jesus
says eternally forgiven us. And thenext thing we need to do is realize
that none of us are perfect.I know it's easy to say that.
I know we always say that.I always say that from the pulpit because
it's just it's clear none of usare perfect. But if you're a Christian,
you are a saint. You area saint. You have been washed,

(12:05):
you have been redeemed, you havebeen justified, you've been sanctified.
But you're also in the process ofsanctification as well in this world. So
you need to take sin very serious. You need to take it very seriously.
But when you find yourself stumbling.Do not wallow in a pit of
guilt. Do not let yourself wallowin a pit of depression. Yes,

(12:30):
it's good when you're convicted about sin. Yes it's good that you you know
that this was not right for youto do and you need to turn away
from it. But one thing youdefinitely don't want to do is sit in
your sin or sit in depression andallow Satan to have more control over your
life. Don't give into sin,my friend, don't give into sin.

(12:52):
View yourself in light of how Godviews you. He loves you, He's
with you, He never leaves youor forsakes you. But as Christians,
we are a commanded stay in fellowshipwith God. We all struggle with sin,
and we are commanded and expected toturn away from sin, regardless of
how many times that occurs. We'rerequired by God to follow Him, to

(13:15):
walk with him and rest assured thatHis grace will always follow us until next
time. God bless