The Danger of Our Justification
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
What does it mean to trust the Lord with all heart? Does it mean that if we lean our own understanding, we are trusting God with a divided heart? Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty. (Hosea 10:2) If we justify our own understanding we can be displeasing to God without being aware of it. How do we know if our trust is in the Lord, or leaning on our own understanding? This is sometimes easy and sometimes difficult, and gives Satan an opportunity to gain a foothold.
One rule I have learned, whenever I have to justify something, it is usually displeasing to God, because when we obey the Lord no justification is necessary. We can justify something without realizing we have justified it. If we take the time to look at things from God’s perspective, it can give us awareness of justifying our way. If we are not careful we can see things from the Lord perspective through our own justification, now we have justified something and think we have the Lord’s approval. The best way to overcome the problem of leaning on our own understanding is to trust God and forget about any other option.
Justifying our own understanding is one of the easiest ways for Satan to gain a foothold. Our own justification can become a habit to the point we don’t even realize we might be sinning. If we open our heart and mind to trust the Lord and his ways, independent of our way, then over time our way and the Lord’s way start to align. Then our understanding will actually support the Lord’s way. But if continue in our own justification, our will and the Lord’s will may never align.
It will be helpful to seek counsel from a trusted Christian friend because we can justify our behavior thinking it’s not sinful. However, after talking to a close Christian friend who sees our behavior differently, we see our choice is not pleasing to God. Our justification will blind us to the truth and may drive us to twist our understanding of scripture.
Today seek the Lord’s will and be sensitive for any justification to do otherwise. For example the Lord may put it on your heart to talk to someone that may be troubled, and Satan will come in with justifications not to talk to this person. Focus own doing the Lord’s will and when in doubt pray for direction. Make the best choices you can through Christ and step out in faith with a Christ-like attitude.
Prayer: Lord, help me to walk in your divine will, and keep me from justifying anything that is against your will. Guide me in your truth, and to recognize Satan’s lies. Lord, thank you for your love and your guidance through the Holy Spirit. Help me to live this day pleasing in your site. In Jesus name, Amen