“The truth shall set you free”, is not true, what is true is, “You shall know the truth and it shall set you free.”
―Thomas A. Madden, 2024 General Assembly
I’m not fooled anymore.
Used too, as a pastor, I would go home from a church service where people left feeling better and think I had done a good job. Now I know better.
I’ve come to understand than feeling better is not the goal. The goal is to be changed.
Repentance just stops the downward slide.
Resolution just means you’ve stopped arguing.
Forgiveness just means the slate has been wiped clean.
With all three – repentance, resolution, and forgiveness – all you’ve done is get back to even, back to where you where before the train wreck happened.
With all three – repentance, resolution, and forgiveness – you’ve acknowledged the problem, but that is not the same as solving the problem.
Of course, getting back to even makes you feel better, but next comes the real work: making the necessary changes that ensure that real change occurs.
The ONE THING for today: What evidence is there that things will be different next time? Until you can give a specific answer to that question, the best you can hope for is to occasionally feel better and that’s not progress at all.
The ONE THING 