Title: True Self Confession
1. The meaning of a person is in self-reflection.
As the French author of Les Miserables said, "Today's problem is to fight, tomorrow's problem is to lead to victory, and every day is a matter of death."
He said that today's problem is to fight.
In fact, what is the problem today?
All real life problems are fighting problems.
How desperate is the fight for survival?
Coming to work every day, white-collar workers fight over paperwork at work, studying students fight books, and traders fight money.
The same goes for housewives.
Every day we struggle with a fixed cost of living, fight with children, fight with laundry, and fight hard to clean up a messy room.
So now it's a continuation of the fight.
This is also true in our religious life. People are said to be conscientious beings.
People are called moral beings.
Also, humans are called spiritual beings.
All the words implied by these words are related to fighting.
To keep your conscience, you must have a fight with yourself.
You have to fight with yourself to keep your morals.
Moreover, for spiritual growth, we must constantly fight with ourselves.
Animals do not even think of introspection.
They are only beings that are drawn to instinctual lust. However, no matter how corrupt a person is, deep inside, he is chastising himself. Therefore, the meaning of being human is that it is a series of battles.
However, the battle can be divided into several categories.
① The first is the fight against nature,
② Next is the fight with people,
③ And it is a fight with yourself.
In the battle with nature, scientific products were obtained, in the battle with humans knowledge, ideas, and ideologies were generated, and in the battle with oneself, religion and I came to deal with the problem of the soul (靈魂).
In these fights, the ultimate and final fight is in the end.
One day, humans will face death.
Death is a reality for everyone.
In this way, the ultimate and ultimate battle is not a battle against nature, nor a battle between humans, but a spiritual battle with oneself.
2 In fighting with oneself, there are times when we are challenged from outside.
This is well illustrated in the case of
At a young age he was daily seduced by Potiphar's wife.
“The woman prayed to Joseph daily, but he did not listen, and he did not lie with him, nor was he with him” (Genesis 39:10).
He seduced Joseph every day using his high status, economic power, and female beauty as weapons. This is a challenge that comes from the outside. Broadly speaking, this applies to all of us.
Even today, this temptation is still challenging all Christians.
We are always faced with the challenges of {ascension of status}, {economic affluence} and {of physical desires}. Especially in the century we live in today, we are all almost defenseless in front of external challenges than ever before. Everything we see, hear, and sense now is temptations from the outside.
How can we win the battle against ourselves in the face of such a challenge?
We should really look into it deeply.
In the face of this challenge, even with worldly knowledge, there is no power.
In the face of this challenge, no matter how high-ranking officials are, they cannot overcome it.
In the face of these challenges, the world's ethical norms do not work.
was not overcome by worldly knowledge, by social status, or by moral or ethical norms. He overcame with faith, saying, “How can I do this great evil and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).
How could I sin against God?
It was not Potiphar, his master, but God.
How can I sin against God?
The power of this belief made me win.
That's it.
From all temptations that come from outside,
, , and , which can beat the self at , or is .
Sometimes not all beliefs are the same. However, Joseph's faith was faith in the presence of God.
The faith we should imitate is the faith of this Joseph.
It should be the faith of 'How can I sin before God?'
If you have the belief that 'I am in the presence of God...', you will have the strength to protect yourself. You must have faith that is conscious of the presence of God.
We all often believe in a future God.
I need faith that God is with me in this place. With such faith, we can overcome all difficulties in reality.
No matter how difficult or painful it is, you must have such faith that God is looking at your circumstances.
That was the faith of the prophet Habakkuk.
He too was a prophet who at first asked God skeptical questions.
There was a time when I asked God with the question 'Why...'.
'Why do the righteous rather suffer in the world, and why do the unrighteous prevail?'
However, he later realized that God does not seem to see evil, but he sees all, so he was convinced that only the righteous will live by faith. He later confessed, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, I will rejoice in the Lord, and I will I will rejoice in God” (Hab 3:17-18).
We must have the same faith today.
You must believe in the presence of God without any doubt.
Only then can you overcome the challenges that come from outside.
Only then can you overcome the challenges of the environment.
3. Worse than that is the challenge from within.
In fact, I see that the challenge that comes from within rather than the challenge from the outside bothers me more. The force that afflicts my good will and leads me to sin is from within me rather than from the outside.
This can be seen in the case of
David's transgression was not an inevitable challenge from the outside.
It was a challenge that came from within, in a relaxed and leisurely environment.
If I look closely, the sinful nature within me and the desire that stimulates the ill will torment me more than the challenge from the outside.
The moment he saw Uriah's wife, the desire within him seized him. Eve in the Garden of Eden also heard Satan's words and lost the battle that came from her heart. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eye, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and gave it to her husband with her, and he also ate.
Then their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made skirts” (Genesis 3:6).
Therefore, the most difficult battle of all battles is the one I fight with.
Philosophers also said that man's greatest victory is to win the battle against himself. Proverbs 4:23 says, “More than anything else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 16:32, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his heart is better than he who takes a city.” You can see how difficult it is to guard your heart and control your heart like this.
Therefore, self-denial (克己) is a victory in victory, and self-control (self-control) is courage in courage.
In today's text, it is said that the two selves are always fighting.
Paul called this a battle between the spirit (靈) and the flesh (肉).
② It was said to be a battle between the inner man and the outer man,
③ It is called the battle between the law of the heart and the law of sin.
It is said that these two selves are constantly fighting within us.
How can I win here?
In the strict sense of the word, no one can win.
In other words, there is no one who can control his heart by his own strength.
That is, it is irreversible.
However, it is only possible by means of which we can be saved.
That is, it is only possible through the love of God's mercy and mercy.
This is the Christian view of salvation.
Therefore, those who do not have sincere self-confession are people who do not even know God's grace. Those who can honestly confess their incompetence before God can receive forgiveness.
To stand before God means truth.
Also, the word "truth" has the same etymology.
Faith is truth. It is the grace of God that is obtained through faith that a person is saved. That belief lies in sincere self-confession. That is why the Apostle Paul also referred to himself as "the one who was born of infertility" and said, "I am the chief among sinners."
Nevertheless, it is said that he found favor and entrusted him to his office.
Where does our dedication come from?
It comes from this sincere self-confession.
I hope that all of us will become fully human Christians who acknowledge our incompetence before God and live by relying on the help of the true Holy Spirit who seeks God's help. ♣