Lack joy and peace right now?

If you’re a Christian, I suggest there’s some unrecognized-and-unconfessed sin/idolatry in your life. The nicest, kindest thing Jesus ever does for us kids of His, is to open our eyes afresh to see the sin/idolatry to which we’ve been blind, robbing us of joy and peace. Better than trying to avoid sin — CONFESS it.

A common unrecognized-and-unconfessed sin I see in Christians I mentor/pastor/disciple/coach, is the sin of INdependence — confidence-we-know-what’s-best. Another way of describing the sin of feeling ALONE and in CHARGE. UP TO ME. Pervasive problem in the Church. Christians imagining we’re following Jesus when we’re not. Following ourselves, our wisdom, based on our understanding. INdependents, not DEpendents. Proud, not humble. Confident-we-know-best, not clueless-we-know-best. Not experiencing the benefit of Jesus in this life. Jesus-dependency — confidence He knows best, is the pearl of great price, worth selling all to get. How do we get it? CONFESS our unbelief in His sovereign reign over every detail of our lives, so we can THANK Him for every detail. Impossible to grumble about our circumstances unless we’re confident-we-know-what’s-best. INdependent.

Unless. You feel lousy physiologically. In which case it’s pert-near impossible to experience joy and peace, so be gracious with yourself, and lower your expectations. Only the humble are gracious with self.

— Dave McCarty, GospelFriendships, expert on grumbling, feeling lousy

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