Life Questions

Your attitude about yourself has a profound influence on your attitudes about God, your family, your friends, and your future. Self-acceptance brings freedom from comparison with others as you discover the goodness of God and His purposes in your design.

In Hebrews 12:15, we find this warning: “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” If we don’t respond to God’s grace in difficult situations, we will become bitter. Bitterness will not only affect us—it will affect others as well!

There are many misconceptions about man’s need for God and God’s provision of salvation. It is vital to understand the truth about these issues, because the most important decision a person will ever make is the decision to accept or reject Jesus Christ as Savior.

In seeking forgiveness for a wrong we have committed, our pride can get in the way, because asking for forgiveness requires us to humble ourselves before those we have offended. The key to obedience in this area is being open before the Lord, asking Him to search our hearts, and determining to follow through on whatever He shows us to do.

The enemy will do all he can to keep us from being open with our spouse about our sexual failures. Satan will convince us that confessing them will only bring hurt and confusion, that God has already forgiven us, and that they are sins of the past that have been dealt with. However, until we are open with our marriage partner regarding all failures—past and present—we will remain in bondage.

The specific circumstances of Jesus’ life fulfilled Biblical prophecy and qualified Him to complete His redemptive mission. Similarly, God prescribes our unchangeable features according to His design.

As we yield—by faith—to God’s goal of conforming us to the image and the character of His Son Jesus, each circumstance in a believer’s life functions as a tool that can shape him or her into the “exact likeness” of Christ.

Somehow the most important thing I learned from this setting was that looking good on the outside was what really counted. The standard we measured everything by was, “What will people think?” No one shared openly about past or present sins and struggles. Thus, when I began to experience struggles and failures of my own, I didn’t dare tell anyone.

Christ’s victory over sin and death has set us free from bondage. What then is the freedom we have in Christ? It is the freedom to do what is right! You know you are free when you can make the choice to resist temptation and follow after righteousness.