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The Antidote to Self Deception.

daily text logoApril 8, 2015

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1 John 1:8-10

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 

CONSIDER THIS

behold-him The longer I live the more I realize we human beings have an almost limitless capacity to deceive ourselves. In other words, sin may not be our biggest problem. I’m beginning to think our biggest problem is the way we deceive ourselves about sin.

I’ll go first. Like you, I probably wouldn’t come out and claim to be “without sin.” My problem is the way I have slowly adopted patterns of sin in my own life that I don’t even see as as sin anymore. They have become my normal.

For instance, I remember a time in my past when I was a fiercely analytical, point-out-the-problem kind of person. I considered it a gift. I had what I considered to be the spiritual gift of figuring out what was wrong with just about anything– including you. One day, by the mercy of God, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that I had a critical spirit. What I had normalized as the gift of critical analysis was actually the sin of a critical spirit.

Translation: I was self deceived. I hurt people with impunity. The real bottom line? This was a failure to love. In my judgment, John’s greatest gift to us will be to understand sin through the lens of our relationships rather than through the metrics of our personal performance. Lots more on that to come.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 

Let’s push pause here, but before we do, let’s remember our prayer through the days of Lent. It’s the antidote to self deception. Remember it?

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. See what I mean? More on this tomorrow.

J.D. Walt writes daily for Seedbed’s Daily Text. He serves as Seedbed’s Sower in Chief. Follow him @jdwalt on Twitter or email him at jd.walt@seedbed.com. Get the Daily Text delivered to your inbox fresh every morning. Subscribe HERE.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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WHAT IS THIS? Wake-Up Call is a daily encouragement to shake off the slumber of our busy lives and turn our eyes toward Jesus. Each morning our community gathers around a Scripture, a reflection, a prayer, and a few short questions, inviting us to reorient our lives around the love of Jesus that transforms our hearts, homes, churches, and cities.

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