If you are about to accept the challenge of lieless living, what are the potential problems that come to mind? Be honest.
I was reading Leadership Magazine and ran across a promo for this new book by Phil Calloway and just felt like I needed to read it. All through the book I kept feeling like something was missing and I was thinking it just wasn’t looking at the topic at hand very seriously. However, in the end it did something great for me.
The entire time I read the book and I couldn’t put it down, I read with a grin. It is funny, it is serious and at times it is very sad. It is an honest look at life through the lens of a man who has chosen to keep going in times of trouble and have a good attitude about it. I would recommend this book to everyone. I only have 12 pages of highlights from the book if this tells you anything. I am including a few of the quotes for you here.
“Things are going excellently well. Have yet to tell a half truth, skirt the perimeter of a lie, or fudge at all. Haven’t lusted, coveted, stolen, or even entertained an angry thought. The dog is licking my face, though. It’s time to open both eyes and get out of bed.”
“Already I’ve been reminded that I am proud, mischievous, and evasive. I came to faith in Christ precisely because I am a broken person who does not naturally lead a disciplined, honest, and humble life. And if you think things are bad now, it hasn’t even been a full month yet.”
“My neighbor asked how I’m doing. Horrendous. Dreadful. Horrific. “Fine,” I said. “How are you?” Will I ever stop with the knee-jerk lying?”
“When I was a teenager, I thought, If I live to be forty, then this lust thing will vanish and I can live in complete victory like the forty-year-olds around here who look like they have one foot in the grave and the other on a skateboard. Unfortunately, after more than four decades as a believer, I find there are times when I still fail in this area. I admire leaders such as George Verwer who have been blunt about their battles,3 but few topics bring out the modern-day Pharisees in greater force than the sins of others.”
“When I sin, I confess immediately and give thanks that the One who called the Pharisees’ bluff is on my side. First John 2:1 tells me that Christ defends me before the Father and that I am forgiven and loved. That love is not a license to sin, but it compels me to walk on with him. And I walk with a limp. So do my greatest heroes of the faith. Maybe that limp is why so many can catch up to us and ask for help.”
“Good old C. S. Lewis had it right: “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
This is just a sampling of the wisdom that comes from the book. It is a great read and I learned so many life lessons that have nothing really to do with lying, just the daily walk of living for our Lord.
Ronnie