The Right Kind Of Strong By Mary Kassianნიმუში

A woman who is not a doer of the Word will have a shallow foundation. She will not be strong; she will be spiritually weak. So many Christian women have not done what is necessary to build a strong foundation. They are learning but not applying Scripture. As a result, they experience significant struggles. And no matter how they try to fix things up, their lives just keep tipping over. Unless they put in some major repair work, they’ll be in danger of catastrophic collapse.

Are you seeing significant progress in your spiritual life? When you look back, can you see how you’ve grown? Are you becoming kinder, more patient, less critical, less stressed, more disciplined, more joyful, and more loving? Or is your character increasingly leaning away from those upright attitudes? Is the tilt so bad that you’re on the verge of a spiritual collapse?

A weak woman learns a lot but doesn’t make a lot of progress. A strong woman digs down deep, applies what she learns, and experiences significant spiritual growth. . . .

God encourages us to make an accurate assessment of our own spiritual condition (Romans 12:3). It’s easy to get discouraged by the hypocrisy we see in our lives and forget about all the growth we’ve experienced.

If Satan can’t get you on the left, he’ll try to get you on the right. In other words, sin generally creates two ditches along the path of truth. When we move away from the ditch on one side, we must be careful not to fall into the ditch on the other. On the one side, Satan would like to trap us in the sins of pride and hypocrisy. But he’s just as happy to trap us in the opposite ditch of defeat and self-condemnation.

It is important to watch for signs of hypocrisy in our lives. That’s undeniable. But it’s just as important to celebrate signs of growth.