The Well Blog

Lately I’ve been eating a lot of “humble pie.” I haven’t been asking for any, nor wanting seconds or thirds, yet I’ve been finding myself being forced to eat it! Whether it is through hard conversations, getting my feelings hurt, or someone calling me out, I’ve seen more of my flesh lately than I ever wanted to.

What is your response when confronted with your sin? I like to think I respond with humility, a teachable heart, and grace. Yet if I’m being completely honest, I tend to be a blame-shifter. I can think of a million different reasons why I sinned the way I did. “She raised her voice, so I had to raise mine,“ “I’m not gossiping, I’m verbally processing,” “He hurt my feelings! I’m allowed to give him the cold shoulder for a while,” or “I sin in this area a lot because my parents did; it was passed on to me.”

Can you relate? When we put the blame on other people or situations, we are forgetting a few different things:

1. We are in control of ourselves. No one ever forces me to raise my voice or speak badly about someone else. We are always given the choice of how to respond and act in every situation. When I’m holding a grudge or judging someone, I’m choosing to. Jesus was in plenty of situations where He could have sinned, yet never did. The fruit of the Spirit includes self-control. If you have room for growth in this area, spend time with the Lord and work through it! Jesus died so we can be free, not just from the consequences of sin, but the power of sin in our lives as well.
2. We are new creations. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul says that after we trust in Jesus, we are “…a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.” Read that again. A new creation! We are no longer bound to the patterns of our families or culture. Given the fact that we were all raised by imperfect people, it’s safe to say we’ve probably picked up some of their bad habits. But through prayer, the Holy Spirit, and sometimes counseling, we can become aware of those areas and fight against them. We do not have to be victims of our circumstances.
3. We have been given everything we need for godliness. 2 Peter 1:3 says, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us…” Simply by knowing Christ personally, we are given everything we need for godliness. I so often find myself praying for the Lord to give me patience and then I just wait around to feel the patience. In reality, I already have access to it! We won’t always feel like obeying or doing what we know we ought to do, but through Christ, we have the ability to always obey. Second Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (emphasis added).

Seeing my sin and flesh can be discouraging, until the Lord reminds me that His love for me is not contingent on my obedience and Jesus’ power is made perfect in our weakness. When we are weak in an area, we have an opportunity to lean on Christ’s power! So do not be discouraged. The Lord’s love is unconditional, Christ’s power is made perfect in our weakness, and the Lord will never give up on our sanctification. He promises to work on us until Christ comes and we are complete.

Hopefully this reminds us that humble pie does not always have to taste so bad.