Sinning Around the House

WHAT!? Sinning around the house? Not something we normally think of as we go about fixing breakfast, making beds, helping a toddler dress or folding laundry, is it? In fact, we can easily get into thinking we're pretty special, serving our family so well, meeting their needs so selflessly... yeah, we're not sinners, we're servants!

But wait! Take a closer look at some of the traps we fall into, like the one in the above paragraph - self righteousness! How often do you remind family members of how hard you work for them? How do you think that makes them feel? We don't see Jesus telling the disciples what a pain in the neck they were.

Jesus was never too busy or too tired to show His love, even to those who didn't love Him back, but how often does a three-year old have to say "Mommy" before we stop what we're doing to give him our undivided attention? Or how often do we fail to note the fatigue in a tired husband's eyes as we bombard him with the trials of our day?

Now, consider the hours that go by when we totally ignore our dearest and most precious friend, the Lord Himself! If we saw Him standing in the kitchen, would we go blithely on with our ever-so-important household chores? I think not! Yet, we can go all day at home or at work and never say a word to Him, never think a loving thought of Him, indeed totally ignoring the fact that He even exists!

Behold, He stands at the door and knocks. Will you let Him in for a brief stay only when it's convenient, your work is done, you're not so tired? Will you let Him in only to usher Him back out again when He's in the way of your own agenda? Or will you invite Him in to stay, to be your constant companion, to share with Him all that you harbor in your heart - the good as well as the tainted. He'll fix and clean and mend. He'll soon have you so in tune with Him that others will notice the change. That's what He'll do if you let Him in to stay. But you've got to do it every day.

The more days we spend with Jesus "invited in," the more patient we become with the demands of home and family, the more tolerant we are of frustration, the more loving we become to all we meet, not just "our own." The longer we communicate with the Lord, the more we become at peace with ourselves and others. We find we are happier and make other folks feel better, too! And that sinning around the house thing? Well, it gets to be less frequent, and more obvious in our own eyes... so we repent.

Hey, I'm Not So Bad
By Cheryl Johnson

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;
(NIV) Romans 3:10

You say: "It's not as if I killed anyone or cheated on my spouse or beat my kids or stole!" But, have you ever murdered someone with your words? Insulted your spouse either to their face or behind their back? Have you ever, in the heat of anger, accused your child of being ignorant? or mean? or lazy? Have you ever "borrowed" something from someone without asking?

Perhaps you've never done any of the above, your sins are more sins of omission. . . How do you recognize your spouse and children as the gift from God that they are? How do you honor them as children of God? And help them to grow in God and grow closer to God?

"Oh, I pray," you say. "Like before dinner or on Christmas eve or that one time when I almost lost my job or when my child was lost at the mall - I prayed that he would be safe." But, do you pray always? Recognize God for everything, including each breath you take? Do you seek to know God better through daily communication with him?

My intent is not to throw stones (I know I am guilty as charged), it is only to point out that we must agree with Paul when he quotes that "No one is good--no one in all the world is innocent" (TLB Romans 3:10).

Faced with the laws God has given us and the conscience and awareness of God in nature and in our hearts, we are all without excuse. In our own strength, without Christ's sacrifice on the cross, our only defense is to plead the fifth. BUT. . . thanks be to God. . . for "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
(Romans 5:8)

Do you have a relationship with Christ?

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