I find myself circling around the idea of righteousness again today…
Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. Matthew 6:1
It seems to have become avant garde to let others know what you’ve given to, who you are helping, and how wonderful you are because of it…but that’s not what God told us to do.
Yes, I have absolutely been guilty of sharing how I’ve given in the past, and I’ve felt that pricking in my heart that told me I’d be better off keeping it quiet. I haven’t always been great at heeding that pricking because I’m a sharing person…a communicator…But I know God is calling me to learn more about times to remain hidden. I’m a work in progress, to be sure…but I am trying.
Lately, I can’t help but wonder what happened to modesty…and is there a link between righteous modesty and sexual modesty?
The decay of a culture often starts in ways that seem very minute or unrelated in the beginning.
A snowball effect has happened in many different ways, to cause the erosion of what is good…what is pure…what is holy.
It’s time to re-establish godliness. It’s time to have clear and concise boundaries. It’s time to allow what is not for the masses, to be hidden by God. We don’t have to share everything. It’s the fallacy of the social media machine and even many pulpits. Some things should remain private. I can’t tell you how many times I read things people have shared with the world and just wonder…”What are they thinking?”
In my grandparents age people dressed up for life. Nobody would have dreamed about wearing pajamas out to buy groceries…now it’s common practice. In my mom’s time people didn’t showcase their family’s issues for the world to see and they operated with propriety. For the most part when I was young, things were much more innocent. Fortunately, I was allowed to have a childhood. Things have changed so drastically since then that when I reflect upon it, I feel a pairing of grief and a desire to return to the old days. I know my grandparents felt the sameway…and I bet my mom does too.
But little by little, and then by large bites, our innocent world has become a roar of perversion, lust, greed, and parody.
What if we decided to full stop disconnect from all of that momentum and returned to the hidden place? It is possible. We can do it. We can’t unsee what we’ve seen, but I know for a fact that God can restore innocence. He did it for me. I lived a more promiscuous life when I was a young adult. I married young, then when that fell apart, I made a succession of mistakes. When I finally had a life changing encounter with God, I wondered if I’d ever be pure again. Would I ever be able to marry again? Would I carry the guilt of my errors forever?
The answer came straight from the throne room of heaven and flooded me with the grace and mercy that only God can offer. He made me pure again.
He can do so for you too. He can do so for our nation. We only need to ask.
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:7-11
365 Days in the Presence 