You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols. (1Pe 4:3 NLT)

Every believer must have some kind of “conversion” experience, a time when they confessed (openly admitted) their sin and turned from their sin to follow Jesus.  This could happen at a young age or an old age, but it must happen (John3:3).

Before I met and gave my life to Jesus Christ I was exactly as the Scripture above states: I enjoyed immorality and lust, feasting, drunkenness, and wild parties, and my terrible worship of idols (things I obeyed more than God; things I was enslaved to other than God).  For me I was a slave to addiction, to fear, to selfishness, to immorality, to lust, to self-absorbed sex, to lying, to cheating, to secrecy, to shame, and to guilt.

BUT…JESUS HAS CHANGED ALL OF THAT.  I still struggle in plenty of ways, BUT…JESUS IS STILL CHANGING ME.  I find that the more I admit my own sin and my need for the Savior, the more He redeems me and takes the “pressure to be perfect” off of me!

The Gospel really is good news!  I really am forgiven, and as a leader, WE MUST BANK ON THAT MORE THAN ANYONE!  Often times I don’t pause to really reflect on the very message I preach every week – THE GOSPEL REALLY IS GOOD NEWS!  Thank you, Jesus!!

If you want to lose endurance and leak joy – then spend your life pretending to be perfect, pretending that you don’t need any help, pretending that you don’t need accountability, pretending that you don’t need to set goals, pretending that you have all the answers.

You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols. (1Pe 4:3 NLT)

I always find it puzzling when someone who calls him or herself a believer but never actually admits to any kind of life-change or confession of sin.  Seriously, if we can’t confess, then we can’t be saved.  If you are the same person now that you were before you accepted Jesus Christ as your Forgiver and Leader then something is “off”.  When Jesus steps into your life, He changes you. PERIOD.  This doesn’t always looks RADICAL, but it should REVEAL the supernatural work that only Jesus Christ can perform!

The power of the cross comes through confession.  The power of heaven comes through our weakness.  When we admit that we are weak, then Jesus can be our strength.  When we stop pretending to have it all together, then Jesus can step in and put it all together.  God deserves the glory for this work, and really only God can change our insides anyway.

As a pastor, I am done trying to be perfect.  I am done trying to have all the answers, and I am done pretending that I don’t have any insecurities, faults, and struggles.  To admit that is to accept freedom and the opportunity for real life change.

To admit defeat is to discover freedom (confession is the road to healing)!

If you want to lose endurance (and yourself in the process) keep pretending that you have all the answers, keep pretending that you have it all figured out, don’t ever go to someone else for help, don’t ever admit that you need assistance, or that you are struggling, or that you want accountability in a given area.

Seriously, if you just want to remain stagnant and never grow, don’t ever set goals, invite accountability, and confess your failures to others!

FAILURE: We must own it, if we are going to overcome it.

FAULTS: We must confess it, if we are going to conquer it!

SIN: We must bring it fully into the light, if we are going to experience life to the fullest!

We all start to lose endurance when we start pretending.  It’s tiring work pretending to be someone else.  It is draining.

You owe it to yourself and more importantly to God TO BE YOURSELF!  God doesn’t want you to be anyone else; but He does want you to become like Jesus in the process of being yourself.  And so that means admitting failure, struggle, and sin.

You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. (1Pe 4:2 NLT)

When I first invited Jesus Christ to be my Forgiver and Leader the biggest transformation in my life was this, I went from “chasing my own desires, to chasing God’s desires.”  I didn’t become perfect (possibly perfect hair, but definitely not perfect in any other area:-).

God doesn’t require perfection, only continual motion toward Jesus.

In my life, I want to listen to Jesus and then DO exactly what He says.  At The Dialogue Church we talk about “listening, living, and leading” – that is our path of discipleship (or becoming a fully developing follower of Jesus).

But, I admit that I don’t always DO exactly what He says, I am not even sure that I always listen – thank God my salvation (grace) & sanctification (growth) is not dependent upon “my work being perfect” but “Christ’s perfecting work” on the cross.

One of the best ways to start growing in a certain area is to admit that we struggle in that area…This is so hard for me, especially as a pastor; I want be the leader, but being the leader doesn’t mean I have to know everything or be perfect in every area.  In fact, my staff and my church need me to be “pursuing Jesus” more than they need me to be “having all the answers.”