Never Give Up! God Will Send Help - Part 2

Character flaws are present in everyone and can cause even the strongest Christians to feel like impostors. An impostor permits character defect to gain control his or her life. A newspaper told of a pastor who led a charge against the president of a seminary, which resulted in the president's being fired. That pastor later resigned his church because scandals plagued his own personal life.

This illustrates how God's gift of leadership can become abusive. The carnal side of human nature goes after selfish pleasures which insist on being satisfied. The apostle Paul warns us to refrain from deceiving ourselves and others because God will not be mocked. Whatever we sow, that we will reap.

Godly resilience nudges us back to higher ground to walk with Jesus and be a blessing to others. All people are capable of drifting into sin and temptation because we never lose our old sin nature. But with Christ in us, we have a new nature which gives us power to establish boundaries on our old sinful nature.

Resilience: Standing Firm in Faith - Part 3

Most everyone acknowledges the fact of their personal limitations. To refuse to do so could prove embarrassing or even dangerous. There is a place within our body, mind, and spirit that acknowledges there are limitations to our capacity to bounce back from failure, from poor judgments and bad choices.

It's reasonable to believe that success and triumph can be as difficult to manage as failure. Stories abound of individuals who ascend to the top of the ladder of success only to fall off because of inadequate character strengths to manage success. Deliberate, destructive impulses may gain control and sabotage success.

After the last supper Jesus and his disciples went to the Mount of Olives, where he told them they were in danger of turning away from him due to the temptations they would later encounter. Peter vowed he would never fall away, yet before the evening was over, he denied even knowing Jesus. That  failure became a peak experience for Peter's character and faith that would push him forward to serve Jesus faithfully.  

Bouncing Back and Pressing On - Part 3

Society has always needed heroes, both real and imagined. These heroes, whether men, women, or children, demonstrate unusual courage in times of crisis or great need. Ordinary people are saddened or angered when their heroes fall short of expectations. We express admiration, however, for those who display resilience and recover with dignity.

Resilience enables a person to bounce back from failures to face their shortcomings. The alternative is to continue holding on to anger and remaining reluctant to admit wrongs, such as acting in ways that hurt others and damage their relationships. Even when threatened by great loss, any semblance of repentance is strangely absent.

When repentance is rejected, the heart is hardened and sin gains a foothold. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." Jesus is more than a hero. He is Lord and Savior and able to melt a heart of stone by forgiving the worst sin imaginable. God's grace will sustain you through any hardship following your choice to change.