Our spiritual growth and development is never static. Whether we are actively pursuing Christ, or have the sense of being pursued by Him, or are simply floating; our inner selves are always in a state of change and motion.  We should be careful not to have a "lesson learned" mentality about spiritual things.  That is, that we would assume we have come to understand some concept, or theological truth and then move on as if we have simply acquired another tool.  

I have often found myself and others frustrated when, having learned and internalized some fresh idea, we come back too soon after as if it had never really happened.  We can lessen our frustration by expecting that to happen.  We need constant reminding.

It is this that prompted me to try and list some specific insights that I've learned.  What follows is not so much doctrinal as much as spiritually-formational.  These are ideas that one learns when he or she thoughtfully pursues and presses into God in Word and prayer. These are those things that, for lack of a better metaphor, are better caught than taught.  They are the type of things one may hear a dozen times to no end, and then another time hear them as if they had never been spoken before. It is that word in season that grips one's heart and leaves them changed.  At least they were for me. With that in mind, I'll share them with the hope that this is a moment God has designed for you to "catch" something. 

My first motive for writing out the following list, more important to me than the potential benefit to others, is to capture some things that have felt a little slippery lately. What I mean is that these are things I've written and spoken about with strong conviction, but have felt the punchy edges beginning to melt a bit for me. I want to cast them in a way that is a bit more stony for my sake. So here is my list of insights caught in moments of light and hunger. 

1. Hate sin as sin, and not as a cause of some other negative thing.

Here God is the ultimate motivator of holiness, and not the avoidance of some other pain or consequence.  When we seek holiness because it will protect us from some undesirable effect we are always building on shaky ground. We may be propping up moral behavior by cultivating even worse idolatries.  This goes against the grain of the dozens of sermons and chapel speeches I've sat through about losing testimony or ministry on account of sin.  Fear of pain and failure can only bring us so far.  Consequences can be good motivators, but they fail to bring real heart transformation. 

2. Besetting sins are rooted in idolatry, not in desire or disease.  

If your hang up is, for example, a bad temper, there may be an idol of pride or perfectionism, or fear of man, or attachment to some status or possession that one defends with his anger. I'm certain there are a hundred other idols behind temper that could be rooted out.  Perhaps it is some inability to deny a pleasure—food, sex, wine, entertainment.  There is almost certainly a god behind the scenes who demands satisfaction.  Take food (close to home for me).  We may be tempted to declare food the idol if one can’t control his eating, but there may be an even more sinister slave master behind the curtain.  The food is making the eater feel better.  The unsatisfied idol is making the eater feel pain. 

3. Honest confession is unqualified.  

When we confess our sins properly we expose our dead, sinful self without qualification.  "I was tired," "I was disappointed," "You angered me," and so on are ways to soften our own sense of responsibility for our actions.  “I sinned and I confess and repent,” is a discipline we need to cultivate. We may fear that a person will not understand that we were having a bad day, or that there were other circumstances.  It's okay. Just another opportunity to weaken pride and cultivate a humble belief in God’s unconditional grace toward our sinful reality.

Part 2.

Part 3.