Does God love me just like I am?

June 18, 2014: Does God love me just like I am? Please "Share" this new precious Prodigal post: http://bit.ly/1piKU5H

Hebrews 12:1 "let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us…”

I’d much rather be writing encouraging words and telling you that everything that’s wrong in your life is because of your prodigal. Even more, I’d like to tell you that you are justified in doing what’s wrong yourself because of your prodigal’s behavior. But I have to be faithful to tell you the truth. And the truth is that God cannot…will not…hear our prayers if we “regard iniquity in our hearts.” (Psalm 66:18)

Even when we know the Lord, we aren’t exempt from doing the wrong thing sometimes. And just because our prodigal does so many things wrong, it doesn’t automatically follow that you and I do everything that’s right. And if we’re perfectly honest, we already know it’s easier to see the prodigal’s or someone else’s sin than it is to see our own.

Several years ago, my pastor closed his message by asking, “If everyone in our church were as spiritual as you, what would our church be like?” I actually had the arrogance back then to believe it would be better. I’m wiser than that today, and life has taught me some hard truths about myself. Or at least I know myself better, and the outcome is the same. I’m as capable of doing what’s wrong as my prodigal or any other person. And so are you.

King David was a “man after God’s own heart.” (Acts 13:22) He was also an adulterer and a murderer. So it isn’t about whether we sin. We do. It’s about “regarding iniquity in our hearts.” By that I mean holding onto that pet sin that we aren’t yet ready to let go of. It’s also about justifying the things we say and do by saying we wouldn’t do those things if…

Sometimes the people who have been most hurt by their prodigal begin to act out themselves even though they certainly know better. But that’s not always the case. It might only be a heart attitude or resentment you’re holding on to, or it might be something only you know about. I don’t know what your “besetting” sins are, and I don’t need to know. It’s enough to know my own and to know it’s still sometimes a struggle for me to let them go.

There are two problems with that. The first is that the Lord will not hear our prayers if we stubbornly hold on to that sin. The other thing is that we can’t do wrong and expect it to turn out right. It just doesn’t work that way. What we sow, we will most definitely reap, and I am not faithful to my God or a friend to you if I don’t tell you those two basic truths.

What’s the answer? It’s to take that thing or action or attitude that came to mind as you read this…you know the one I mean…give it to the Lord and ask Him to give you the victory over it. What set King David apart and made him the “apple of God’s eye” wasn’t that he was suddenly perfect or without sin. It was his tender heart when God spoke to him. And that’s the heart God wants you and me to have.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, ask God to show you what He wants you to “lay aside” and then do it?