My World Class Attorney
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2
I have a world class attorney who lives in my head.
No kidding. She can make a defense like no one I know. The problem being she is also the best prosecutor I know. The prosecutor of me!
Just the other day, I made a small mistake at work. On one side my defender was busy preparing the defense.
"Look how busy she has been. No wonder she missed this. They should know that she is overwhelmed."
"This was not communicated properly. They should know the proper way to communicate."
"Is this really even part of her job? It kind of falls outside the lines of her responsibilities. They should have taken care of this."
But my inner prosecutor was at work too.
"You should have checked that."
"If you had not have been spacey on Thursday you would have had plenty of time. You should have had time."
"You should be less concerned about whose role it falls under. You should have a better servant's heart."
Let me tell you a secret God revealed to me - shoulds are always shame or blame statements. And they are not the truth. Because the truth says that, " there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death" Romans 8:1.
But we have to fight for this truth because we have an enemy who is behind both the shame and the blame statements. They are both bait he sets out to trap us.
Think about what was really going on in my heart behind the smoke screen of thoughts. I was afraid that my mistake proved that I was not good enough. In fact, multiple other thoughts followed the initial ones that were so evident that the enemy was attempting to take me out of the places God has called me to this season. Thoughts like:
"I can't do all these roles that God has me doing right now - see I tripped up"
"I don't have enough time to do all of this. I am overwhelmed. I must've heard God wrong."
Surprise. Surprise. The enemy does not want us to do the things God has called us to do. We are a threat to him, so he lays the bait in order to trap us.
We must fight back with the truth found in God's word. But first, we really need to get below the thoughts, into the heart and understand what we are truly afraid of. Then, we can address the real fears with the truth of God.
Now, I am assuming that because you live in a performance-based world, one of the most pervasive lies you have is that you have to prove yourself worthy, and then by default when you make a mistake, regardless of how big or small, you proved yourself unworthy. So, I am going to give you a mindblowing truth that Jesus told His disciples when they were competing with each other about who was the best (oof, does that sound familiar or what?)
"So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else." Mark 10:42-45
In the kingdom of this world, we are competing and we are constantly told to strive for perfection to prove ourselves worthy. But in God's kingdom, none of that is true. In God's kingdom, we are free to serve each other in love. In God's kingdom, we are free to ask for help and confess our mistakes because we are frail and needy humans.
In God's kingdom we have nothing to prove. Justice has come through the sacrifice of Jesus. We are not on trial anymore. F or those who believe in Jesus Christ and claim him as Lord, the verdict is in.
We have been found loved and free . Amen!
Live it out:
This week try and notice when you put yourself on trial. Do you have a tendency to blame or to shame yourself, or like me vacillate between the two? Remember shoulds are always shame or blame statements. If you find yourself shoulding on yourself or others, this is a great place to start.
Now that you have noticed your thoughts, try to get to the root lie you are believing, (such as, I am not good enough). This is the lie that needs to be brought to God's truth.
Bring the lie to the light of God's Word and to God in prayer. The Spirit will guide you to the truth if you are fully open to His counsel. Remember lies, like darkness, lose their power in the light.
Let's Pray:
Father, you are so good. You sent your son to pay the price for our sins and now the case on us is closed. Help us to recognize when we are trying to prove ourselves and go your way instead. Help us also to recognize the enemy's tactics and fight his lies so we do not fall into temptation. Spirit guide us into all truth and counsel us in the ways that we should go. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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