Beloved

I think I'm learning more and more that people have rounded characters. That although they cause me offence on one hand, and do things which seem to me to completely undermine any moral authority they might have, this does not detract from their other strengths, and the other ways in which they continue to bless me. I think I can live with that.

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A friend of mine was lamenting how often it seems that Christians (the nominal ones, usually) seem to behave even worse than non-Christians. It occurred to me, mainly because this reflects my own experience, that it is very easy for Christians to apply our faith as a bandage - superficially covering our woundedness, while hoping that our own body can heal itself. While it is true that sometimes we must 'claim it by faith', and 'speak the truth into being', sometimes there are core issues that we simply have to deal with. Like what Jesus said, "This kind can only come out by prayer." One cannot simply believe that being a baptised Christian and doing all the Christian-like things will lead to life change, as I used to.

Even for those who are familiar with the weapons of faith, we cannot exercise faith over our problems if we have not truly identified out problems, we cannot speak deliverance over our issues if we cannot specifically identify the issue at hand. God will not deliver us when we have not accurately identified our problem, because then we will not have a full appreciation of our fallenness, nor can we give God the glory due Him for His deliverance.

This then is the problem that many face. We attempt to cure the problem without first diagnosing it, or perhaps without going in deep to see the full extent of it. This takes much reflection, time spent in the quiet, and prayer. I am reminded of how the Word of God is likened unto a mirror, in which we can see ourselves more clearly.