Two Lessons

This past Sunday my family and I went to one of our favorite churches. We love this church because of its outstanding teaching and preaching. It was there that I learned the following two lessons:

Lesson One: The enemy is within, and it is unbelief.
All my selfish desires and worldly ways can be traced to the simple fact that I do not believe God.

Lesson Two: Find the source of your rage, and you will find your idols.
I am and will be an idol worshipper this side of heaven.

These two lessons added clarification to my study time in I Timothy this summer. As I read through the commands to watch over each other and persevere in the faith, I am convinced that the real issue we Christians face today is... each other. We are quicker to condemn, criticize, and gossip than we are to love, forgive and serve.

I believe this is so because of our unbelief and our idols. Both point back to our original problem...we want to be god because we do not believe God's promises, and we believe there are still other things that are more important than God.

If you doubt me take the following challenge: What type of response do you have to the term "submit" in the context of submitting to the one person you do not like or respect? Does your response align with the passage in Hebrews 13:17:19? When I was willing to be honest with myself I was very convicted by my unbelief in God for His provision of authority (I do not know everything; only God knows all things.) and His provision of promises fulfilled.

Praise Him for He is worthy of so much more than I have to offer!