Being Honest with Yourself

DAY 147
2-18-10
EZRA 3-5


Good Morning!

The way to start growing, changing, or rebuilding a life or relationship is to be honest with yourself. Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 13:5 “Examine yourselves…test yourselves.” Being honest with yourself takes courage and a close look at the source of your failures, weaknesses, sins, and faults. Although it is not pleasant, it is vital to personal growth.

I have had to do this many times. Every time I have been honest with myself, I have grown and changed. I have also found that nearly every time someone complained to me or got on my case about something, there was always some truth to it. It took me a long time to admit that.

Did you notice that when the work was stopped on the temple and the city of Jerusalem, the builders wrote the king and confessed that reason the temple was destroyed and city was defeated was because of their nation’s sin? In Ezra 5:12, they write, “Because our ancestors angered the God of heaven, he abandoned them.”

They were not proud of that. I’m sure that wasn’t easy to admit. But it was true. And the only way to move ahead and not repeat the sins and mistakes of the past was to admit failure and move on in a better, more faithful direction.

So, examine yourself. Be honest with yourself. Desire to leave the past - past sins, attitudes, and problems - and God will help you rebuild whatever is broken in your life.

Barry