Comments on: Choosing to Defer My Attention

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:27:45 +0000

No disagreements here. So you think that childish thinking/reasoning might include sinful thinking/reasoning? Do you think the distinction Scripture makes with childish/mature thinking might also imply a distinction in dealing with mature and immature thinking? Do you think that the distinction might also apply to spiritual maturity? How would this look in real life for spiritual matters?I’m also curious to know how you would (or if you would) imitate Jesus as he described here:

A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. Matthew 12:20

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:09:22 +0000

Barbara– You’re doing a better job explaining what I’m trying to communicate about God. What interests me is that this attribute of God seems to be connected with how a parent interacts with his own children.

By: Diane Heeney

Diane Heeney — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:28:41 +0000

It seems from scripture that God holds us accountable for what we know (Jas 4:17). Just as I don’t expect my 8 year old to understand algebra or even know what the word is; but I do expect him to have a good grasp on two-column addition, which he has been taught. The law is our schoolmaster. With age ought to come understanding, as we train up our children…with each year they put away more and more of their childish thinking/reasoning (1 Cor. 13:11,12).

By: Barbara H.

Barbara H. — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:42:56 +0000

I have heard preachers say that when we confess our sin as per I John 1:9, when it says He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrghteousness, the latter phrase means He takes care of everything, even what we didn’t know to confess. I am not phrasing that the best way, but ti was a comfort to me. I used to be afraid to take communion in case I had forgotten to confess something. My pastor advised to ask the Lord to search us and show us what we needed to confess and then to deal with anything that came to mind. Once we’ve earnestly done that I don’t think we have to worry about something lurking that we’ve missed.

We mentioned maturity the other day: I think there is a spiritual parallel there as well. I became a Christian as a teen-ager, and there were things I was convicted about 20 years later that I never thought about when I was first saved. While they were still wrong even in my spiritual infancy, the Lord was gracious to give me time to grow before dealing with them. It would have been so overwhelming and discouraging if He had dealt with us about everything that needed changing all at once.

Sometimes, too, with my own children, what I correct them on depends on what else is going on in their lives. If we have just had a major situation before dinner, I am not likely to correct table manners that particular night: I don’t want to discourage them or take away from the bigger lesson we’ve just gone over.

While I don’t think the Lord ignores sin, I don’t think he calls us on every little thing, either, for the reasons mentioned above.