Today is my 28 month wedding anniversary. I said it to Ben first…winning for the first time in a while.
Mark 7:6-9 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
The Lord is using this to point some sin in my life. I just prayed and asked Him to this morning. In many areas I am a hypocrite, honoring God with my lips but my heart is far from Him. In so many things I give lip service, yet my heart is not right. Specifically He has been working on me lately regarding my attitude toward the brethren. I go to church with an unloving spirit, a complaining heart, a critical attitude. Even if I don’t agree with every practice, method, sermon, song, etc. I can go and show love for my brothers and sisters in Christ. They may not be perfect. They may say things that hurt me, or do things that alarm me or shock me or hurt me. But I must forgive, and I must love.
It reminds me of a quote by Charles Spurgeon that I used to have on my refrigerator (perhaps I should put it up again):
“He who grows in grace remembers that he is but dust, and he therefore does not expect his fellow Christians to be anything more. He overlooks ten thousand of their faults, because he knows his God overlooks twenty thousand in his own case. He does not expect perfection in the creature, and, therefore, he is not disappointed when he does not find it.” ~Charles Spurgeon
I have also been feeling convicted about honesty. I am prone to exaggeration, which some excuse as easily as a “little white lie.” (I wonder do we call it white because we do not consider it to be sin, and therefore black?) I was upset when Dad told me to leave the purchase price of the car blank so that the new buyer could decide how much they want to pay taxes on. But yet I don’t want to claim the income from selling the car on my taxes. That is hypocritical. I need to be honest and upright in every area of my life.
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