I was at a church training event this past weekend. One of the pastors at the event gave a great morning devotion. He opened by talking about some of the things that hold him back from fully obeying God or fulfilling the call that God has placed on his life. One of the reasons he listed was simply that he knew how messed up he really was. I have to agree with him. Someone can tell me how they think I am going to be successful at an upcoming endeavor and I appreciate the encouraging words, but too often I find myself wanting to hold back and to sit still versus progressing because I get to looking at how messed up I am. After all, I know the thoughts I thought or the attitude towards other people that I had…the people saying the encouraging things don’t see the junk, they only see the shining parts of my life. In the end, I know I have to step out fully trusting that God knows what he is doing by leading me to do anything, but its not always easy!
Join the Conversation: What do you let hold you back?
My past sin. I was afraid sometimes that someone knowing my past will associate that with my walk with Christ. In other words, I don’t want someone to say “Jason’s a Christian? Ya right, he has a kid out of wedlock, some kinda Christian”. I have let stuff like that hold me back. I guess my past reputation, damaging Christ’s name. I don’t let it hold me anymore. I use to think that would always keep me from serving God to my fullest capacity, it hasn’t, it has just changed my direction on how I serve him. Good post Nick!
Fear of inadequecy, or failure are the two top things that hold me back. And it’s so hard to step over that obey sometimes.
Love your honesty.
I think I definitely let my fear/concern about what others think of me hold me back. God has been working on me lately. I’m trying to worry less about what others think and more about what HE thinks.
Great post. Sounds like you had a great time this past week.