“For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” - Romans 2:13“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 who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” - James 1:22-25It’s vital that we not only learn and understand the Word, but also actively apply and practice it. The Pharisees were a prominent example of individuals who knew scripture like the back of their hands, yet were hypocrites who did not practice what they preached. Like you touched upon in your message, the Pharisees were focused on appearing holy and putting on a performance for the eyes of other men, but neglected the very real issue of the darkness and spiritual decay that was happening within themselves. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for these behaviors.Sadly, the Pharisee-like mentality did not end with the Pharisees and is still a problem for far too many in the church today. One of the major problems that comes from this mentality is a reluctance to admit one’s weaknesses to others and even oneself, because of wanting to appear holier than others. It’s a form of pride. The truth is, a person can refuse to admit their weaknesses to others or themselves, but it can’t be hidden from God (1 Samuel 16:7, Jeremiah 17:10). We harm ourselves by refusing to acknowledge our struggles/weaknesses with the flesh. It also causes harm to others when people with this mentality proclaim that they have no weaknesses in the flesh (because they don’t want to admit it for appearances sake or maybe they are blinded to their own weaknesses - or possibly a mix of both) and unfairly accuse others who are open about their struggles of being false Christians for having to battle the flesh - when in reality, this is a battle nobody is exempt from while running the race in this life. Paul talked openly about his battles with the flesh as a Christian. We can’t deny that it is a major spiritual concern/red flag if someone claims to be a Christian yet embraces sin without any sense of remorse or conviction about it. This is something that we are to speak up about in truth and love for the sake of that person. But that situation is entirely different from a Christian acknowledging that they have a weakness to certain sins, knowing those sins are wrong, choosing and desiring to fight against it with Christ’s help because He has convicted them, and seeking forgiveness/repenting if they should stumble.I completely agree with your pastor’s statement - it is critical that we look at our own hearts and, with the guidance and conviction of the Holy Spirit, recognize the weaknesses/sin that need to be addressed with His help. It’s so important to be honest about our weaknesses with the flesh both to ourselves and to our brothers and sisters in Christ. There are certain weak areas that I took quite awhile to talk about openly on this blog, mainly because I felt ashamed and concerned about what people would think of me. But once I set my pride aside and spoke openly about it, others started talking openly about their same struggles and said seeing me speak up made them less scared to do so. Likewise, me seeing other brothers and sisters in Christ speaking up about these same struggles with the flesh helped me to set my pride aside and open up for the sake of others. Sharing our experiences with weakness in the flesh and our fight against it is a way He uses us to build each other up, encouraging one another to fight against sin and rely upon Christ for the sanctification we need. It’s one of the ways we work together in fellowship to sharpen one another. Acknowledging the weak spots that we are ashamed of can be painful and embarrassing. But failing to acknowledge them for the sake of pride is the spiritual equivalent of ignoring a festering sore that needs medical treatment. Christ is our Physician and in order to seek His help that we so desperately need, we need to recognize that the festering sore is there to begin with.

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’” - Matthew 16:24Yes! Very good advice that I completely agree with. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and advice :)

I agree, comparison can be extremely toxic and destructive. There are times where comparison can come in a healthy form, but what you’re describing is a very harmful mindset to fall into. I talked more about the topic of comparison in these asks, in case anyone is interested in taking a look.Comparison can lead a person to sin in various ways (e.g.: it can lead to jealousy, a covetous attitude, turning the person and/or the desired aspects of their life into an idol, etc) and it serves as a spiritual hindrance and distraction. Comparison comes from a failure to realize that He is better than what anything or anyone else can offer, that only He can truly fulfill - and when the dust all settles, this is the mislead and false belief that is at the root of any sin. The encouraging truth is there is nothing that Christ can’t set a person free from. Just like anything else intended by the enemy to distract and destroy, Christ can break the chains holding onto the person restrained and tormented by a spirit of comparison. Christ can set them free, using what was meant by the enemy to destroy that person instead for the Lord’s glory and to draw that person close to Him through a strengthened faith in and relationship with Him. If that person recognizes the problem, realizes their need for His help and desires it, and calls upon the Father for help in Jesus’ name, He will provide the strength and support needed. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has given us the wonderful privilege of approaching the Father’s throne boldly in Jesus’ name for the help we need during any struggle, most certainly including the struggle of comparison!

Hi there,

Catholics follow the rule of not eating meat on Fridays during Lent (the period of time from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday), which is a man-made rule that is not enforced or supported by scripture.

What scripture does say on this matter clarifies to us that your father’s accusations are not warranted, nor are they true:

“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’ (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” - Colossians 2:16-23

If your dad wishes to follow this rule, that is his decision.. it’s not inherently harmful if he doesn’t want to eat meat on Fridays during Lent. Where he is wrong and where he is causing harm is accusing you of disrespecting God because you aren’t following a man-made rule put in place by the Catholic church. He is enforcing that man-made rule as if it were required according to God’s Word. He is essentially doing what Colossians 2 tells us not to do.

You aren’t disrespecting God for not following a man-made rule. How I would handle this situation if I were in it is to lovingly and truthfully explain with Biblical support why I don’t follow this rule. So that is an approach you may want to try with your dad if the topic comes up and he accuses you of disrespecting God. The reason your dad is reacting this way is because he honestly believes this, most likely because it’s what he has been taught his whole life as a Catholic, and I am guessing he may not have attempted to look into scripture about this or else he would find there isn’t Biblical support for it. When I was a Catholic, I just accepted teachings that were not supported by the Bible/outright went against the Bible simply because it was what I was told from a very young age coupled with the fact that I didn’t have any Biblical knowledge (as a Catholic, I didn’t read the Word. It was when I was born again and started reading the Word that I recognized the problems with many Catholic teachings). If he is aware that there isn’t Biblical support for this rule, then it raises the question of why he puts such reliance in a man-made rule to the point that he accuses others for wrongdoing for not following it. Of course, if you see discussing this with your dad causes him to become upset/angered and he isn’t willing to hear you out, it’s probably best to respectfully end the discussion and hopefully at a later point he will be more willing to have a calm conversation about it.

Even though your dad isn’t going about this in the correct way, I think it’s important to keep in mind what we are advised in these verses from Romans 14:

“Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” - Romans 14:20-23

Since your dad believes that it’s wrong to eat meat on Fridays during Lent, then the considerate and better thing to do would be to refrain from eating meat around him during that time. As it states above, it is better not to eat meat around your dad on Fridays during Lent if doing so can potentially cause him to stumble. For example, since he seems to feel strongly about this, maybe eating meat around him would cause him to stumble in anger/agitation.

I hope you found this helpful!

I actually listened to a very good sermon recently about Christians and the workplace. I found it to be very helpful and encouraging!When it comes to witnessing for Christ, I completely agree with what you said about asking Him to guide your words. When we seek His guidance through prayer and follow His leading/timing as willing instruments for Him to work through, He will orchestrate opportunities for us to speak and will give us the right words - His words. When we rely on Him, we won’t have to stress figuring out exactly what to say or when the right time will be to say it. He is responsible for these things, we just need to submit to Him and follow His lead! The words will flow with ease. If you or anyone else is interested in taking a look through it, I talked in more detail about this in my witnessing for Christ tag. Thank goodness we don’t have to naturally be eloquent speakers to be used by Him. I find the fact that He is in control and it’s my place to follow His lead to be a relieving truth. When we witness for Him, we aren’t meant to do it on our own. The Father does the drawing and a way He accomplishes this is through using believers to witness for Him. It’s about Him working through us and us submitting to Him using us because we desire for Him to. Therefore, it is vital that we seek His guidance and rely on His timing/planning and not our own, avoiding the temptation to become frustrated or hopeless if things are not moving in the timing or exact way we had hoped.But at the same time, I think what is just as important as not trying to push things in our own power/planning is that we must be careful that we do not allow fear of rejection to hold us back/hinder us from hearing His leading and speaking up about Him. If a Christian allows fear to take over, they may convince themselves that it’s not the right time to speak, when in reality, He says it is the right time. Fear is a common tactic the enemy uses to discourage and stunt, and witnessing for Christ is no exception to where he attempts to use it. So once again, it is incredibly important to listen closely to the Lord’s leading and also to pray for courage so that a spirit of fear does not hinder one in witnessing for Christ.