Devotionals

---

Larry Lilly's Letter Monday August 8, 2005

Continuing the thought from Friday’s offering, the idea of personal integrity as being essential for a life to be considered mentally, emotionally and spiritually healthy is documented by all thinking people and by none other than Jesus Christ.

Please read and think about the following quote from Walter Anderson:

“Our lives improve only when we take chances -- and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.”

It is worth noting the last phrase in the sentence that the most difficult part of preparing for the great, rewarding risks of life is the risking of being honest with our self about our self. When we are as the country folks say, “brutally honest” with our self, we will see some things in our life, in our attitudes about life and others that we must be willing, even anxious to throw overboard and get on with the journey, sans the baggage.

One area of questioning will always involve the painful procedure of looking in the mirror and coming to grips with who you know yourself to be, and the refusal to settle for what others think they know you to be. They have probably been unduly influenced by the false signals you have been sending them. This can be good or bad, but you and God want a good, upfront statement of who you know you are in your heart of hearts.

The ‘stripping bare of the soul’ has long been the catalyst for lasting change in behavior. Until a person recognizes that they are helpless in combating addiction, there seems to be little that will really help them. Being honest about it brings them to a place of accepting the needed power to prevail over said addiction in whatever form it is manifested.

The same truth is well known to all who have labored in reaching men and women with the gospel of Christ. For a man, woman, or teen to really trust in Christ, they must first see themselves as they are biblically, sinners. The Bible is clear on this. As long as any person attempts to place blame, attempts to present their own goodness as evidence of their worthiness, no one can really help them. Yet when the truth of self is acknowledged, all the forces of heaven are at the beck and call of the admitted needy soul.

Many people my age wish we had known the importance of ‘being real’ when we were much younger. Truth be told, this knowledge was readily available, we just were so driven by fear, pride and the need for acceptance that we missed the power and joy of reality on the inside.

Thankfully as we grow older we respond somewhat to the teaching of the scripture and cooperate with the Lord. As we do this the truth of Lynn Hall’s statement becomes part of our understanding:

“We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves.”

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2005 Use with credit.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE