As a young man new to the ministry, Timothy needed encouragement so that he might stay the course with the Lord. The words Paul wrote to Timothy are of great use for us today. He spoke of faithfulness. He spoke about being steadfast and having stability. He also addressed the need for sound teaching in the presence of spiritual error. Under no circumstances could Timothy allow any form of a roadblock to his own spiritual growth to exist. He had to stay focused. In today’s world there are many temptations to entertain a roadblock that could harm some form of stability in a Christian’s life.
There is a key roadblock that many believers might allow in their thinking that would stymie spiritual maturity. That roadblock is rationalization which says I can do this sin without any repercussions. Such a person will fool himself into believing that some form of carnality is permissible for so many reasons. He might conclude that God will understand because it is necessary for his happiness. He might think his situation is different because he can control the details of how he carries out his sin. This person could see himself as better than others since he has dabbled in sin and come away with no one knowing what he did. The sin that he is committing could be what he viewed as necessary that would further the cause of Christ. These are all lies!
Take for example the act of adultery. The guilty person does not wake up one morning and immediately plan that day to commit sin. He first engages in “harmless” flirtation which is contrary to the example that a Christian should display. If the flirtation continues, the backsliding Christian lies to himself and, if necessary, lies to other people about any attraction that may exist. The lies will continue as a support mechanism for what lust demands. At any point, the man can put a halt to his behavior, to his attraction. He does not. Then he takes a bold step toward some form of being physical such as a kiss or touching inappropriately. Since the receiving party welcomes the advances, together they take further steps. Eventually they find themselves living a life of adultery using rationalization that it is permissible.
It need not be the case of adultery. It could be any sin that benefits the perpetrator such as stealing. Whatever the case, whatever type of sin is being committed, the believer who once knew better has cast aside any spiritual logic. This is why Jesus said we must be willing to walk the narrow pathway. That pathway is preemptive of any first step using rationalization. Under no circumstances can we allow ourselves to make excuses or give ourselves permission to commit a certain sin because of the lies we tell ourselves. This is difficult to monitor for how we think and act. We must stay on board with the old question, “what would Jesus do?”
