Erroneous conclusions

Much of who we are is impacted by our surroundings. Music, movies, books, hobbies, clothes, what we drive, where we live, and the people we associate with have influence over us. Take a good look around at your surroundings and how your choices brought you there. Eliminate blaming, self-condemnation, and thoughts of victimization. Our choices make our surroundings and the information that leads us.

Abiding with Jesus involves a dying to self. Let's look at some scripture to glimpse the seriousness of what Jesus teaches.

Luke 9:59 - 62 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”

But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go andbid them farewell who are at my house.”

But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

How serious is Jesus. To the point of death serious. Jesus does not seem to be choosing any personal comforts over God. Jesus did not give into any systems over God's directions. Jesus even seems to deny his own blood relations.

We can however take a slower and more gradual approach. We just need to make progress and measure it. If we don't measure it with sort of checks and balances, we can easily be self-deceived. 

Matthew 12:46 - 50 While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

Our transformation in abiding more with God must be our highest aim.

Walking with Jesus the way Jesus taught means full dedication to God. We are not held back by family nor money. We can choose to grow in God's character no matter what our condition. The process is absolutely free and only requires faith. Being successful with God's character may involve a pursuit of a more simple  and disciplined lifestyle. We likely will need to give up some self-interests for God's.

To grow with God means we will be producing an improving God ambiance about us. Our music, movies, books, hobbies, clothes, and people we associate with will likely evolve to better align with God's character. Each of us will be different in how we grow because we are different. Therefore, we ought to practice acceptance over differences with tactful, patient, gentle, encouragement toward God's righteousness.

Our choices can only come from what we know. Growing with God involves learning new ways to think and behave. We will need to break free from habits and expectations. We are only bound to them if we believe it. This breaking free can feel awkward and out of place. We can feel nudged to avoid change/new action for many different reasons.

The following lessons can help us learn, if we are humble and willing to see our own errors. We can develop insight into how we misguide ourselves into idleness and away from growth. We can examine ourselves for where we may condone sin in our own thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions. We can learn how to correct our inward reasoning into a stronger reliance upon God's goodness and righteousness.

The following study can help us identify influences which can interfere with our abiding in God. Recognizing spiritual misunderstandings can empower us to correct them with God.

For example, I once had anger problems. I had to first learn to identify things which triggered my anger, then learn ways to help manage it. Later, I learned to see how my thoughts, beliefs, entitlements, and expectations were setting me up to get angry. Because God is high in peace and patience, I practiced guiding my thoughts  to practice peace and patience. I learned to see the good in it.

This kind of change required new thinking and a willingness to respond differently. As I responded differently I became a different person. In order to be different I needed to struggle against many influences within my mind and socially. Change is not easy. It's a difficult choice.

We can improve with one easy choice each day. Choose to read the article below. Respond to the questions and learn. Or choose not to and learn nothing. It's your choice.

James 1:22-25 "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

The fact is that we all make mistakes, but we can improve, if we are giving ourselves over toward correction. I had to look patiently and diligently at my own actions to discern just how truthful I really was. Here is a link that provides many common scenarios where people can lie or deceive. Some of these we may justify to be okay. We can convince ourselves it is okay to lie. We can justify it based upon who we are with, customs, culture, etc. Yet we are to serve God only, right? The point is to grow a little here and there. Let's find where we can improve.

https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-lying.html

Here are a few examples of lying or deception from the link above to share with a friend. It's important to raise our awareness of how common deception can be in our surroundings. When things are common, we can be deceived that it is okay.

Let's try to keep in mind the demonstrations of God. How might Jesus respond with the following examples?

1. You tell your mother that her meatloaf is delicious when you really hate the meatloaf.

2. You laugh at a family member's super-corny jokes even though they really just make you want to groan and roll your eyes.

3. You let your siblings think you've already ordered mom's birthday gift from all of you, then quickly order and pay extra for overnight delivery so they won't find out.

4. You gloss over the reasons that you and your last significant other broke up when a new prospect asks on a first date because you're not yet comfortable with that level of sharing.

5. You let your significant other believe that you share their enthusiasm for a television show or movie so that you'll have an excuse to spend screen time together.

God corrects us, if we are willing to be corrected. We are to be clay for the potter to be reformed. There are many teachings in the Bible that are hard to hear, but we still need them. We need to understand them. We need to look at them and ourselves. We need to give ourselves over to corrective feedback. If God's truth feels wrong, most likely it is because our own beliefs are off. It's not God's truth that is wrong, it's us. 

We love Jesus, right? Jesus desires good things for us. Let's look at a hard verse and take in what Jesus is saying.

John 8:42-45 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me."

There are many truths we will struggle to accept as truth because our own belief system declares it untrue. We all have such self-deception within us. 

1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

We can improve as much as we are willing to be changed by God's truth. God's truth will challenge the parts of our faith that needs correction. Our minds will seek to defend such areas of our inward authority. We can improve our faith if we are willing for our beliefs system to change.