Are you committed to compromise?

I picked up an email from a friend named Darold in South Carolina today. He was commenting on my recent book about holiness. He came up with an acroynm of sorts in relation to holiness.

Some of the words Darold used were..."complacent...carnal...Christians...continually under...compromise." It started me to think about Joshua 9:14 in the Bible. ..."The Israelite men "partook" of the food [of the spies] and did not consult the Lord."

If we are complacent and carnal, yes, we are sure to sin. But, being complacent goes beyond being satisfied with what you have and failing to act. It's being selfish, self-righteous, arrogant and prideful. It is placing ourselves above God's standard for us.

God's standard for us IS NOT perfection. That is for heaven. God wants us to make the decision daily that we are going to live differently. Live everyday to please Him and not ourselves. Because when we live to please Him, we find His joy. Not in the rigidity of a prison. Not being a prisoner to Him or a slave. He wants us to freely give ourselves to Him through our obedience.

His standard is for us to seek to live a life that is a reflection of Him and all His goodness and yes, grace. His grace to us, freely given to us, through His Son, Jesus' death on the cross.

Living a complacent life is a life committed to compromise. If your not a Christian and you don't want to be, that's great. At least you know how you feel and you are letting others know it.

But, if you are a Chrisitian and you have allowed compromise to rear it's head in your life through being complacent...your sinning.

It's time to make a choice. If you say your a Christian and your love God, you need to start showing it. God says you can't serve two masters. When you are complacent you are serving yourself. And if you would stop and "consult" with God about this...He would tell you exactly what He thinks about it.

When you seek to be filled with God, and controlled by His Spirit, you care about what He thinks. That means you spend time with Him to actually find out how He feels.

Spending time with God will let you know how He feels. It is what we do with what He wants that makes the difference.

A commitment to self will strengthen our relationship with this world and yes, ourselves. A full commitment to Him, God, means no compromise. But a pledge of loyalty to Him with our lives, and not just our words.

A. Miller 2006