My Toes Hurt

Well, I'm entering my 4th week of discipleship, and I have to say Monday has now become my favorite day of the week. .. for this very reason. Y'all it is SOOOO good.

I've been involved in many Bible studies before. . . I've even taught one. . . but discipleship is quite different.

We all meet here at my house at 6:30. I have coffee ready for everyone and my girl, Lisa, always brings us a yummy goody. She is an excellent cook and an even better friend!!

We all gab for a little bit until about 7:00.

Then, it's time to get down to business.

We head to my family room and start out with prayer. Then we open up our books and read.

Right now we are going through "Respectable Sins" and "The Mischief of Sin". If you want to be convicted, have your toes stepped on, and the like, then you definitely need these books. If you're the type who chooses to ignore both the obvious and unobvious (is unobvious even a word?) then stay away from these books.

Cutting, I tell you. Makes you fall to your knees in repentance because you truly realize how wretched you are. . . how full of sin you are. . . sin that you like, sin that you allow. . . Becuase many times we as Christians tend to compare ourselves to unbelievers. We look at ourselves and think, "Hey I'm pretty good. I don't murder. I don't cheat. I don't steal. I love Jesus." The problem is we are comparing ourselves to the wrong standard. We've allowed these "respectable" or acceptable sins into our lives. Sins like worry, fear, gossip, impatience (I can't wait to get to that chapter b/c I didn't even know impatience was a sin). God is the ONE who sets the standard and His standard is His Word. We've got to be in the Word if we're going to know His standards.

In fact, we always read a chapter during the week. It's the same chapter that we will be going over. Once when reading "The Mischief of Sin" I'd have to stop after just about every paragraph and repent.

We learned last week that a single sin does not stand alone. One sin is usually coupled with another sin and probably several sins. For example. . . resentment, pride, frustration can all tag along together. And, what about the sin of gossip? Gossip is a pretty broad term, but to make it simple, gossip is ANYTHING that tears another person down. . that doesn't build them up. . .and it hurts both the person saying it and the person listening. I joked around and said, "Yeah, here in the South we think we can say something about someone and follow it by 'Bless his/her heart', and we think it's okay to talk bad about them."

Know what else? We are to keep one another accountable.

So, let's say my friend has a problem with another friend. She calls me venting about our mutual friend. She says some ugly things. I'm to call her out on it and tell her she is gossiping. OUCH!!! That's a hard one for this people pleaser.

What about the sin of complaining? This one really got me!!! When we complain about things in our lives, then we are questioning God's Sovereignty. Whew!!!

When we started this discipleship group I prayed God would not only step on our toes, but even bruise them. Now, I think we are on the threshold of having them broken. . . but that's good. That's what I want. I haven't gotten into Chapter 4 yet (plan on diving into this weekend), but I can't wait. I WANT to know my sin. I WANT to be aware of it. Because when I sin and do it willingly, then I am despising God. Oh, when I learned that it cut me to the very core.

I'm trying to be so very mindful of my sin, moreso my "acceptable" sins, the ones that make the church blend in with the world. Just today, only today, I've been tempted many times, and I'm sure I've failed. I'm so thankful God is so patient with me. I'm so thankful He is the potter and I am the clay. I'm so thankful that during this process of sanctification He hasn't let go of me yet. Stay tuned. . . I know I'll have much more to share!!!