Authentic Leaders Are Flawed
Admit Flaws – Part 2

Scripture Reading:  Romans 7:19-24

Key Verse: Philippians 3:12

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

One of the key phrases of any recovery program for addicts is to stop living in denial.  All of us have a tendency to live in denial when it comes to our flaws.  It is hard to own our own junk!  Our hearts are for Christ and we so desperately want to be a positive influence for Him, yet our flesh gets in the way of doing that perfectly.

            It is critical to example to our world that following Jesus won’t mean that our lifestyle is suddenly made perfectly holy.  Our hearts are made perfectly holy immediately upon our surrender and subsequent sanctification of God’s Spirit in us, but we will work the rest of our earthly existence to try to live out the truths of God’s Word.

            Here is the problem, in my opinion: In a short time a person can read what it means to be a Christ follower, but reading these truths and living these truths are two different things.  For example, a person can read and learn what the perfect golf swing is, but it takes many hours of practice to accomplish what we have read.  So it is not being a hypocrite to know far more than you can live.  The goal is to daily get better at living out all that we learn, but that takes years!  The practical routine for us must be: read then go practice!  Read God’s Word and then go do our best to live it out, getting better every day!

Father, thank you for your patience with me and remind me of the truths you want me to practice today as I live for you.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.