Hebrew 12:2.3: Looking to Jesus is not something natural for us. Normally
we don’t look to Jesus but we look to other things. Most often in life, quite
honestly, we look at ourselves – we may not look at a mirror. But we ask: What
do I need? How do I look? What do people think about me? How do I feel? What
happens when we look only at ourselves? We fall into traps.
A first trap we fall into is called pride. We think to
ourselves: “Look at all I’ve done and who I am. I see all the wonderful things
which I’ve done for people, for family, for God. I’m a pretty good person!”
We begin to praise our self and think too much about our self. Now none of us would probably say these things but we would see ourselves on a higher level than others. Like: “We’re the GOOD Lutherans. Those who are faithful to the Scripture.” Or „We’re better Christians because we pray more.” „We’re closer to God.” „We stay faithful when others give up.” It’s so easy to fall into these types of thinking. „I don’t drink, do drugs, swear, or have any tattoos – I’m a cut above.” Now again, we’re not going to say any of this – but we WILL catch ourselves thinking these thoughts over and over again. Pride is a very dangerous trap because it slowly blinds us and then we don’t see God but we slowly become our own god. It destroys our relationship with God. We forget that if it wasn’t for the grace of God, that person could be me. And then God’s Word must once again crush our heart, humble us, and bring us to repentance. Otherwise there is not hope. Pride is a horrible trap!
A second trap when we look at ourselves is shame.No one likes the feeling of shame. I believe that nothing hurts us more in life that the suffering that comes from shame. When you are ashamed for some reason and do nothing about it – shame can destroy you. People would rather die than live with shame.For example King Saul chose to kill himself rather that to be killed by the Philistines in battle. Shame can shape our lives from childhood. But if shame is a result of sin, it can lead us to repentance and then trust in God’s salvation through Christ.
You might think to yourself: „I am a hopeless case. I am without any value. Nothing good can every really come out of my life. Others around me are successful but look at me – I’m always behind. I never will be good enough. I might work day and night but it will never be enough.”
Have you ever found yourself thinking those thoughts? Even for a moment? This is the trap of shame and the result is depression, pain, self-destruction.
God’s Word gives us a solution to these two traps: „Look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” This is the way to escape these terrible traps. When we look to Jesus we don’t see our holy lifestyle and good actions but we see the holiness of Jesus. We confess our imperfections and trust in the Lord. Our hope is not in ourselves but in Jesus who lived the life we HAVEN’T lived.
We begin to praise our self and think too much about our self. Now none of us would probably say these things but we would see ourselves on a higher level than others. Like: “We’re the GOOD Lutherans. Those who are faithful to the Scripture.” Or „We’re better Christians because we pray more.” „We’re closer to God.” „We stay faithful when others give up.” It’s so easy to fall into these types of thinking. „I don’t drink, do drugs, swear, or have any tattoos – I’m a cut above.” Now again, we’re not going to say any of this – but we WILL catch ourselves thinking these thoughts over and over again. Pride is a very dangerous trap because it slowly blinds us and then we don’t see God but we slowly become our own god. It destroys our relationship with God. We forget that if it wasn’t for the grace of God, that person could be me. And then God’s Word must once again crush our heart, humble us, and bring us to repentance. Otherwise there is not hope. Pride is a horrible trap!
A second trap when we look at ourselves is shame.No one likes the feeling of shame. I believe that nothing hurts us more in life that the suffering that comes from shame. When you are ashamed for some reason and do nothing about it – shame can destroy you. People would rather die than live with shame.For example King Saul chose to kill himself rather that to be killed by the Philistines in battle. Shame can shape our lives from childhood. But if shame is a result of sin, it can lead us to repentance and then trust in God’s salvation through Christ.
You might think to yourself: „I am a hopeless case. I am without any value. Nothing good can every really come out of my life. Others around me are successful but look at me – I’m always behind. I never will be good enough. I might work day and night but it will never be enough.”
Have you ever found yourself thinking those thoughts? Even for a moment? This is the trap of shame and the result is depression, pain, self-destruction.
God’s Word gives us a solution to these two traps: „Look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” This is the way to escape these terrible traps. When we look to Jesus we don’t see our holy lifestyle and good actions but we see the holiness of Jesus. We confess our imperfections and trust in the Lord. Our hope is not in ourselves but in Jesus who lived the life we HAVEN’T lived.
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