Monday, April 7, 2008

What does it mean?

If you can't trust your christian friends...who can you trust?

Turns out, I'm talking about myself!! Ever heard the saying, "Atheism exists because of Christians."? You may ask, how is that?, but there are people out there who have never heard anything about God, salvation or eternity, but they look at us so called Christians and say, "I don't want to be like them."

I'm guilty of leading a very sinful life - yes I go to church, I read my bible, I am in a bible study, I go to MOPS, I pray, I teach my child about God, I do good, but I also do bad. There are a lot of things that I can say to be hurtful to those I love as well as those I don't even know and all the people in between. It's very easy for me to pass judgement on someone else for something they have said, something they have done, a lifestyle that they are leading...the list goes on, but in reality, their sin is no worse than mine in God's eyes - a sin is a sin!

So, I've just felt convicted lately and am making a promise to myself, my family, my friends, and most importantly God, that I am going to work on this. Not only work on my own sins, but work on judging others for theirs. I feel it necessary to start this by being very humble and publicly admitting this. I sometimes question why Catholics do confession - why not just speak to God? - well, I think that there is something to say about humbling ourselves enough to publicly admit our sins - whether that is to one person who is a priest or to numerous people who read my blog.

5 comments:

Megan said...

Well said. I definetly am guilty of this!!!!

Aimee said...

Great post! I am guilty of this as well, so it was a great reminder! Thanks Shawnie!

Leenie said...

GUILTY

Hey--does that include gossip?? Just kidding! I think everyone is guilty to some degree.
In regards to the Catholic confessions to a Priest-they have you make your first confession when you are in about 2nd grade--it sure does scare the pee right out of you. (Literally). Anyway, there was always a feeling like a ton of bricks was lifted off your chest after you confessed. Felt like a new start.

Megan said...

Yeah, I agree. Even thought alot of people don't agree with Catholic beliefs and confession....there has to be something said for recognizing you Sins and openly admiting that you do have sin in your life...kinda of what Shawnie just did:) I vote this as post of the week!!

Anonymous said...

Amen sisters. I too, am guilty of being judgemental. Sometimes I try to not say anything, but it still exists in my mind. Trying hard to see everyone through God's own eyes is the way to go.