I've had the privilege to be a pastor for over 20 years and I have heard a lot of people say a lot of things. One of the things I have observed is that folks who boast of being "holy" or how much they have crucified their flesh or how much they have separated themselves from the world are usually compensating by their rhetoric for the lack of the truth in what they are saying. Maybe not everyone, but I hear Paul declaring, "O wretched man that I am.....!"
In EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US lies a flesh pampering "monster" that screams for its own way. It will NEVER be killed once and for all in this life and must be crucified daily and struggled with like a wrestling or boxing match.
Personally, I have not attained to what Jesus Christ wants me to be. I am not even close to what I was when He saved me, but I am not close to what He wants me to be either. I am a work in progress and I tell the folks I am privileged to pastor that often. It gives them hope that they make it and don't have to be perfect. Perfection, (lack of flaws) is an impossibility in this life no matter how loudly some proclaim it. Even those who proclaim having attained it are liars.
Without the help of the Lord, I am toast. Without the power of the HG, I will revert to what I was. Thank God for the resurrection! Thank God for His power to set me free and keep me. But none of you have to become "like" me to be acceptable to God.
Threaded Mode
