My personality lends itself to navel-gazing - awareness and analysis of what's going on inside me in a self-absorbed way. It's good for me to recognize and confess my sin. It's not pleasing to God when I allow it to become an excuse or obsession that moves my focus even the slightest from Christ who died and paid the penalty for my sin. Paul goes straight to the heart of the matter for women like me, who can be "honest" and transparent, but stop there and don't press forward into the difficult work of transformation,
...women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself “truth.” They get exploited every time and never really learn... (3:7)
Never really learning. Going through life in a cycle of confession, depression, declarations to be better next time, plans to get it right, disappointment, dissatisfaction, and back around to confession. Somewhere in there, the Living Word was missed. The Way, the Truth, and the Life was ignored in deference to the latest packaged and marketed religious fad.
Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there’s no getting around it.... But don’t let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed... There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. (3:12-17)
The Word has a transformative power to "put together and shape up" that navel-gazing, good intentions or religious fads can never begin to approach. It's a different cycle - truth, exposure, correction, training - all wrapped up in the salvation and rescue of Christ.
I am for you. My son is with you. My Spirit is in you. Never forget that as you hear My instructions. My instructions are always an invitation to life. (66LL)
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Been thinking this week about deeper repentance and what that means. Wonder why it's easier to recognize the sarcasm and distance and pride and apathy in my family members, my world over my own.
Sometimes, I have to try 10 times on the word verification. I am on my 7th try.
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