"True Diagnosis"

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Hebrews 12:1

I had the same doctor for most of my life. I noticed something about the way he would diagnose your problem. If the illness was something obvious he would go ahead and begin to treat it. If it was something that wasn't so obvious, he would do what I call the "process of elimination". When you would go to see him with your ailments, he might have an idea about what your problem was but instead of treating what he suspected he would send you for tests after tests eliminating anything else it might be. Nine out of ten times his first suspicion was right.

Many Christians are like that when it comes to dealing with issues, or besetting sin, in their lives. They seem to go "all around the world" before they get to the real problem. They go through a process of "elimination". They start dealing with everything but the real problem. For example, they may know they have an unforgiveness problem but instead of going ahead and dealing with it, they ignore it and work on other areas. In most cases it's because they don't want to have to deal with it, they don't want to have to face it, they don't want to have to make the choice to repent and let go of it.

The whole time my doctor was sending me to have all those tests, while days were turning into weeks waiting for the results, I was still hurting, I was still suffering with the problem. Until we are willing to deal with the real issue we will continue to suffer with the problem too. And this "problem" will begin to effect others areas in our lives. If left untreated it will begin to pull you down spiritually and weaken you. My doctor ignored the real problem while eliminating anything else it might have been but that didn't make the real problem go away, it was still there. Just because you are ignoring it, it won't make it go away either.

If you know what the problem is, if you know the nature of the besetting sin, if you know the area that you need to deal with, if you have been ignoring it, it is time to stop. It is time to deal with it- it is time to "treat" it by acknowledging it and then repenting of it.

Have a great day. Don't go all the way around the real issue, deal with it.

For further reading:
1 John 1:9
John 4:16-18
Luke 18:18-24