Let the Light In

If I’m writing this, and you’re reading this, it means we’ve both made it to another new year. Congratulations! God willing, we each have been given another 365 days to live our lives. We won’t get to choose everything that happens to us, but we’ll get to choose how we respond. And the truth is that many things are of our choosing. We are the ones that decide how to start our day and how to finish it. We decide how we treat ourselves, and how we treat others. We decide who we listen to. We decide our priorities and passions.

So, in this new year, what choices will you make? And, what will be the litmus test for those choices? If you were to step back and look over the past year or more, where have you fallen into Grey Zones? What we’re talking about here are those places where we tweak the truth for personal advantage, or simply ignore the truth to minimize personal discomfort. It’s also when we justify being unkind to others, forgetting that we represent Jesus and that the world is watching. If you can, find a quiet place to relax and talk to God. Ask Him to reveal these things to you. Open your Bible to 1 John, and read the first couple of chapters. Ask God again, “ What Grey Zones have I wandered into? Use His Word, that He’s already given to guide you.

Jesus came to earth to seek and save the lost. He came to show us the way back to God. He wants to redeem and restore us. True freedom is experienced through an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. In relationship with other Christians, we experience another level of His love and grace. We can’t experience all of this if we refuse to live in obedience to God. Why then do we continue to live life in the Grey Zones? Why are we willing to compromise ourselves for a little temporal gain? Why do we go to church, but walk away and forget the truth we’ve just heard? Why do we go to Bible study but not let the Bible shape our lives? Why do we make a good decision one day only to make a bad one the next? The calling for any Christian is to live in the light, modeling Jesus’ life and teachings.

What about Blindspots? Have you noticed how easy it is to recognize other people’s failures and sins while ignoring our own? We walk around not seeing what everyone else can clearly see about us. And, they are probably doing the same. We easily fail to notice our effect on other people when we’re unkind. We notice the big sins that they commit while making excuses for our own behavior. Perhaps it’s time to talk to a trusted friend. Ask them to gently tell you where they think you are going astray. If it helps, ask them to speak to you using the sandwich method: Have them give you positive feedback first, then their constructive observation of a Blindspot, finishing with positive feedback. This may help your ego to listen to the truth without getting offended. If they speak the truth in love, it’s best to choose not to be offended, but instead to do a little soul searching.

It’s a new year! Start it off by asking God to reveal your Gray Zones and Blindspots. Allow Him to search your heart and mind. Listen to Him, even when it hurts, and be at peace with the truth that He loves you enough to die in your place. And He did that while you were rebelling against Him. He won’t turn you away. I know it can sound scary, but I promise that He will be there with you, showering you with His unfailing love. He will walk with you as you make hard changes. If you truly follow Him, He will transform you into a person who rises above the darkness of the world. You will have so much joy. When your head hits the pillow at night, you will be at peace, even in the midst of trial. Enjoy true fellowship with Jesus, one transformative choice at a time. What a great way to launch a new year!

Happy New Year!

"If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth."

1 John 1:6

"Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story..."

Psalm 107:2