STEPPING INTO THE LIGHT

“Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the Perfect Law that gives freedom, and continues in it -- not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it -- they will be blessed in what they do.”  (James 1:22–25 NIV)

Experience is the matrix in which change is forged.  Usually the realization that we have a need to change begins with an experience.  The experiences we are especially interested in here are those that are symptoms of deeper needs; things that reveal wrong attitudes, fears, destructive behaviors, and so on.

The appropriate response to an insight gained through experience is to turn to the Scriptures ... God’s Word illuminates.  It penetrates our clouds of self-deception and shows things as they really are.  It takes courage to step into the light in this way.  To be confronted with the truth about ourselves can be like getting caught with no clothes on.  But we must see things as they are before we can do what needs to be done.

[To say yes to what the Scriptures say about us] takes a certain attitude on our part.  It is humility ... Prayer and worship are the language of humility. 

-- Jim Peterson in “Lifestyle Discipleship”

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