Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Ephesians

Personal Holiness

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God calls each of us to live a life of personal holiness. This goes much deeper than having a daily prayer time or attending a service on the weekend. Personal holiness is more than what we do. It’s also about what we don’t do. It’s what we choose to think about, and what we refuse to dwell on. Personal holiness will affect the words we say and those we don’t speak.

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It’s all-consuming. When we allow the holiness of God to permeate our entire being, everything changes. Everything looks different. We cannot afford to let even the smallest hint of sin take up residence in our hearts because it will eventually infect our entire body.

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Blind Spots

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It’s easy to point fingers at the failures of others while ignoring our shortcomings. Jesus warned against this tendency by advising us to remove the log from our eye before commenting on the speck in the eye of our brother (Matthew 7:4-5). Sometimes, as we are refining our walk with Christ, we become blind to our less developed disciplines. It is common for us all to gravitate to certain portions of Scripture that resonate the most with us.

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Too often though, we do so to the detriment of studying other parts and we develop blind spots. It’s a good practice to read some passages with which you don’t frequently engage to see what you might be missing and identify any blind spots you may have. I don’t get through many mornings reading Scripture without being convicted of something.

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Times of Trouble

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In the darkest days, we must remember Jesus is good. He always seeks justice and love. When discouragement encroaches on our soul, He is our comfort. Our unchanging God is in control and we can know all things are working toward His sovereign plan and ultimate victory. We must not grow weary. Our battle is long and our journey difficult. But, oh, our righteous King is our ever-present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1-3).

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Don’t let the circumstances and events surrounding you consume your thoughts and dictate your mood. Turn your eyes to Jesus. See His beauty. Gaze on His glory. Bask in the warmth of His love. He is not panicked or taken off guard by the happenings in our world. We can rest in His unending provision and power.

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Feed Your Mind

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My pastor passed on some wisdom he had received from one of his college professors: “If you get it out of your heart, it won’t come out of your mouth.” His takeaway from that is to put into your heart what you want to come out of your mouth. Feed your mind with what you want to reflect. If you feed it words and images of divisiveness, hate, mistrust, and fear, what kind of person do you think you’ll become?

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What sort of words do you think will come spilling from your lips? Paul implored us to speak only words that build others up (Ephesians 4:29-32). If you constantly feed your mind with messages that tear you (and others!) down, you can never do as Paul says.

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Love Your Neighbor

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Most of us are familiar with the greatest commandment: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:28-30). And while I think we are aware of the second greatest commandment, “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31), it seems we give that one more lip service. I’m not sure that’s ever more obvious than during a Presidential election season.

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I see a lot of evidence that many forget their allegiance is to Jesus and not to a political party. It manifests in the words we say to each other. To love your neighbor as yourself means to love them even if they support opposing political ideals or candidates than you do. Loving those who agree with us is easy. Discipleship is hard.

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