How Far Is To Far?

Question: Just how long does a bite from a Black Widow spider take until death?

Answer: Usually 45 minutes to 1 hour... If you are lucky.

You might be thinking... What does this have to do with anything?

It's not long before poison can kill...

But how does this relate to our Christian walk...? Well let's see

Everyday, in our spiritual walk, We are faced with situations... And in those situations, we are faced with "Black Widows" waiting for the first sign of weakness in order to attack! So just like the poison from a spider bite..?

It's doesn't take long to destroy your witness...

When we compromise our witness (what we claim that Jesus means personally to us), we reveal a spiritual weakness. In this weakness, our witness can become susceptible to poison. (which comes in the form of compromise).

But the scary part of this is....

Everyday we face times like this... ...and many of us fail

I know that I do...

So what can we do in order to prevent this?

1.) Realize that YOU ARE compromising!

Take this for an example, a small dirty joke about women is started. You overhear... IMMEDIATELY you have two choices, laugh, or ignore/remove yourself from the situation.

Well... Let's say that you pick the first option.

IMMEDIATELY you laugh. This laugh then gives a cue to the person who initiated the joke. So instead of the dirt ceasing (by ignoring), the poison in the joke begins to come out from hiding. In this moment,

Your witness has just been poisoned...

Why is this?

You allowed that which is CONTRARY to the Lord to surround you... You have made this engulf your image... ...The image that should be Christ You have just made a mockery out of him. And now there is no way to escape, the damage has been done, and people have witnessed another, so-called Child of God, be a typical hypocrite.

Do you now see how atheism can spread in not only the community but also in church's? It's unfortunate that this is sometimes caused when we do not practice what we preach.

Unfortunately, I have been one of these people.

In order to prevent this from happening... ...We must surround our-self in God's word, daily

What else can we do?

2.) Realize.... Funny DOES NOT make BAD, GOOD, Legal does not make sin okay, And acceptable does not make filth clean...

Although something is pleasing to you, this doesn't mean that it is pleasing to the Lord. So it isn't pleasing to the Lord,

then It shouldn't be pleasing to us either...

Throughout the Bible we can see what happens when we allow dirt to compromise our cleanliness, we can also see some orders that the Lord gives when it comes to this.

"Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin; whoever builds a high gate invites destruction. One whose heart is corrupt does not prosper; one whose tongue is perverse falls into trouble." -Proverbs 17:19, 20

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways." -Proverbs 4:23-26

Although it is hard, There is extreme importance in guarding our ears, eyes, and mind from filth.

Think of it like this, you just took a shower and you are currently clean. You reach for a towel but accidentally grab one which is used to wipe the floor. Unknowing of this mistake... you use the filthy towel to dry off. Are you still clean?

Well... Not exactly.

So think of this as an example of what happens spiritually when we allow filth into us. When filth gets on us, no matter how clean we previously were, we now become dirty! And honestly, sometimes others see this dirt better than we see it. In fact, some are just WAITING for you to get filth on yourself...

So this is why we must be aware of our image... For we might be the ONLY glimpse of Jesus that someone might ever see.

I say this to introduce our next point that we must remember...

3.) We must realize and remember, that we must be the role models and LIGHT of the world! WE MUST LEAD BY EXAMPLE!

We can't shine if our light is covered by dirt! So we must begin to realize that dirt goes WAY beyond a simple dirty joke... Dirt can include: Racism, gossip, slander, hate, violence, foul language, and SO much more that EVERYDAY we are exposed to!

It's time to seriously think to ourselves... -Do people only know I'm Christian when I tell them? -Is my actions showing others Christ? -Do my words have weight...? Or are they as hollow and hypocritical as my actions.

In order to save the world... We must become truly different... from the inside out.

In order for us to live like Jesus, we must begin to live, love, and learn like him...

Change starts with me... Change continues with you... ...Change spreads to us

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"With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." -Acts 2:40