Care and Discipleship Certification

Good morning!

Got to let you in on a great secret. The Institute for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship has all kinds of helpful resources, for free! Yesterday I listened to:

http://www.ibcd.org/resources/messages/when-sinners-say-i-do-sin/

And it was pretty much a game changer. Some challenging questions for me:

-What gets the most volume in my home: sin or grace?
-Do I see knowing or seeing my sin as the end, or the means to an end? Meaning, we should always start with grace, see our shortcomings and confess them, and move to mercy and end with grace. The apostle Paul models this prescription in I Timothy 1:12-17:

² I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, ¹³ though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercybecause I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶ But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷ To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.^[a]Amen.

He is honest about his past but it doesn't drive him to despair- it drives him to the grace of the Gospel. That He does need Jesus even currently. Not just to deliver him from sin and death eternally, but for present help! 

He also doesn't see himself as being perpetually sinned against; no, he sees himself as the chief of sinners. Do I see myself that way or do I see other's shortcomings as worse than mine? My heart is the only heart I have a front row seat to. Do I see myself as the chief of sinners, and does it drive me to grace? Do I see myself as a victim or as someone who's shortcomings are worse than those committed against me? And does it drive me to the cross of Christ?

I want the grace of God to be my anecdote, the start/ and end result of my thoughts, the prescription to my shortcomings, the start of the marathon and the goal! If this is my experience with God, how easy it would be to forgive, as it would be my whole daily experience with the Lord. And what we experience with Him, is passed onto others.

If you have questions about the gospel, feel free to message me.

Cheers to grace-filled days and homes. <3