Good morning everyone,

James 4:8-10-Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

One of the great challenges I believe we face when it comes to personal change is to honestly consider whether my desire to change is by guilt and not love. Guilt alone brings condemnation, which can be a powerful motivator for people to examine themselves and see the need for change. But the problem with trying to change because you feel guilty alone, is that you know that if you could change yourself you would have a long time ago.

Though it is hard and unclear at times, confronting yourself before God seems much easier than having someone else confront you. For example, if the Holy Spirit is confronting us about our sins and we are seeking to please Him daily, than any other confrontation is simply confirmation, rather than a shocking surprise. Being confronted by someone who brings up our issues usually makes us defensive, but why? Of course we all fear refection, but I believe that is why the gospel is something we live out constantly, and not just a message to be told.

In any relationship, forgiveness and a restoring of love is the only way to mend and strengthen the relationship. Our sin before God is similiar in principle to the many sins we make in all relationships. Yet what motivates someone to make the relationship "whole" again is by forgiving and restoring love, even though we have sinned and will continue to sin against them. The only way a persons guilt is removed from sinning against another person is because in spite of the consistent failure, they aren’t condemned by that person, as if all they are is a failure.

Yet the only kind of love that can endure constant failure is the unconditional love of Christ. If Christ is removed from a heart of personal devotion, than the strength to love in spite of failure will not hold up. Eventually we will condemn and leave that person in their guilt, because we see them as a failure. Remember the conviction of the Lord is not to condemn but a call to restoration and love, which doesn’t leave us in mourning to be defined by failure, but restores if we turn to Him. Do we seek that love from Jesus? Do you extend that same love to your family and others? Any other motivation is legalism where the fear of failure dominates, instead of the love and forgiveness of God’s grace.

In His Love, Ld