It has never been more clear to me, that as a Christian, husband, father, and pastor, that having confidence that I am a positive influence more than a negative one is crucial to me feeling useful.  Of course that doesn’t mean perfection, yet it does mean that a profession without striving to justify what I profess is useless…

Conviction for a Christian comes from not doing what our “title” suggest, a life lived for Christ sake.  So saying we are something, and not working towards fulfilling it, is of course hypocritical.  I don’t think most people see hypocrites as people who are not perfect according to what they profess.  I think people want to see works or evidence, that what we profess is actually what we are about.  Otherwise they think we are phony…

In no way we would look to strive for faith, if God’s character didn’t match up with what He professes in scripture.  Our rebellion strives to be justified in what we want to do. So if God were a liar, we would feel justified to go against Him.  But since He is perfect and holy, even when we rebel with our justifications, His Spirit convicts us. Because God is perfectly in line with working out what He professes, He cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18).  It is because of His perfect work and faithfulness to His people, that He stands in perfect authority and influence…(Philippians 1:6)

Integrity has so much to do with faith being something that we live out, for the sake of being influential and not useless for Christ.  It is hard to trust or be influenced by anyone who commits to many things, and only fulfills half of them.  It would be better to know our capacity and commit to a few things (while disappointing some people), and be faithful in them all!  This is why faith must have humility, because you soon realize that the goal is not to try and do many things (pride), but to be able to do those things that make you influential for Christ.

In His Love, Ld