How to stay true to your faith

I think that the real battle that every Christian wages is in his own mind. This is where the true fighting occurs.
  We will look today we ways to run a straight race right to the finish line. Paul used this analogy for those that were well acquinted to the games so common to Roman life.
  Why use this as an illustration? I say because it truly defines how we must condition ourselves for the task ahead.
  If you do any athletic training you will first be introduced to what is known as "the mental game." Any difficult task that an athlete is going to prevail against must first hurdle his own intellect.
  So we now turn to our first, and what I see as critical, issue reality. I was just telling my kids that everyone thinks they are a great this or that, however it doesn't mean they are. It is most important that we squarely look into the face of the monster we truly are.
  I call this "carrying your weight." What I mean by this is you must be able to see the damage your sin is causing you and those around you.
  I have always said "there is power in knowing who you are." This is so very true. Acknowleding your weaknesses and and tuning your life to avoid your tempations is the first step to success.
  Now that we have dealt with reality we must now go into the analysation phase. We must ask ourselves if there is anything we are currently doing, thinking, or engaged in that is counter to God's word.
  The very definition of a hypocrite is one that says they believe this and actually do things that defy that belief. We must adhere to a stict code of transparency. There is no way sin can be hidden in a life that all can see.
  Now we are getting somewhere! However this indeed is a place most do not want to visit. We like our privacy don't we? But may I ask you why you cherrish it so? Is it not so that others do not figure out who you really are?
  My mom had always said that "you can't love if you can't be vulnerable." Those words always stick with me. As one that had some horriable things happen in his childhood I know isolation. I would be lying if I have mastered "my people side."
  I can tell you one thing for certain though. I guard myself from people because they have hurt me so. Are you like me in this way? We must know what I call "our mountains." Those issues that we really struggle over.
  This is key to figuring out what we have and still need to deal with in our lives. Some of our issues do not only keep us from those we love but also our God. Someone told me that a wall closes you in as well as it keeps others out.
  Now that we have looked at what is in our closet we must now go to the trashman. This indeed is where we as Christians differ from the world. Instead of picking up that new top selling self-help book we must go to our creator. The one that can remove the trash in our lives. If you have gone to any A.A. meetings you will know that the addictive cycle ends with a promise that you will "never do it again."
  We have no strength to change us. The fact is that each and everyone of us wants to be bad. We love it! We are like this because we get some benefit from it. To be true to your faith we must face it friends.
  No more are your days of battling your secret sins! As a church we must realize that the people sitting next to us are as messed up as we are. The church must return to being a hospital. A place where people are allowed to explain their illness, get treatment, and get healed.
  We just can't allow another day of living a dualistic lifestyle. Playing the part of a holy roller on Sunday and struggle with porn the rest of the week.
  My friends the only thing that separates the follower of Christ and those who don't is that we have hope. Hope in a caring, loving, and skilled surgeon that is waiting for us to sit down long enough on the table to do the procedure.
  Be true to who you are, what you have done and take it to the father. Get into a real group of people following their Lord. Let them love you, accept you, and encourage you along the way.
  In closing we must all admit that not only do we need a savior but we also need others. We want isolation so we can bleed alone. This is just not God's plan. Just like it is not in the blueprint for Christians to lynch the hurting.
  Put your heart out there folks. It is the only way we can truly love. After all aren't we suppose to be identified by how we love one another? Have courage friends to live a radical life as our Lord did.