Life's Healing ChoicesSample

The Reality Choice: Admit You Need Help In Jesus’ most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, he explains the choices that help us heal from our hurts and hang-ups, and the habits that mess up our lives. The first Beatitude, Matthew 5:3, says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (NIV). What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”? Jesus is saying that nobody gets into Heaven who is full of pride. We get there by grace. To be poor in spirit, you must humbly admit you need help. Jesus said, “The truth will set you free.” You’ve got to face the truth about yourself and stop living in denial. We call this the reality choice. But the truth is, we don’t like the truth. We love the truth about everybody else, but we don’t like the truth about ourselves. It feels a whole lot safer to avoid the truth about yourself because it is painful to face. Tithe truth will set you free, but first it makes you miserable when you realize what needs changing in your life. The good news is your habits and your hurts and your hang-ups can be healed. The bad news is it takes humility. You’ve got to humble yourself and swallow your pride. James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (NIV). There are some facts that you need to admit about yourself if God’s going to bless your life, and the first one is this: You are broken. We live in a broken world where nothing works perfectly. The economy doesn’t work perfectly, our relationships don’t work perfectly, and our bodies don’t work perfectly. Everybody’s confused today. They don’t know what they’re supposed to be or what they’re supposed to do. We’ve confused attitudes, attractions, and addictions. Even our identities are confused. Yet, all you have to be is yourself. But that includes the understanding you’re broken! And that’s OK, because once you make the choice to admit it, you’re on the path to humility, which leads to grace. And God’s grace will cover your brokenness, hurts, habits, and hang-ups. That’s good news! This devotional © 2014 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.