A Thought and a Prayer

“My giftedness exceeded my godliness.”

~ Dr. Steven Lawson

Whatever your thoughts on Dr Lawson, I feel those words. Lying here this morning contemplating them, they almost form themselves into a prayer.

The truth is, I know something of the danger he is naming: being able to speak beyond where you are living, to possess gifts that can outrun character, to know the truth better than you are presently walking in it. Scripture’s warning is severe exactly because none of us is beyond it: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).

Lord, do not let my giftedness exceed my godliness. Do not let public usefulness conceal private decay. Keep me watchful, humble, correctable, repentant, and near to Christ. May I never be the reason your Name is blasphemed.

And when Christians do fall, myself included, may repentance be real, consequences be faced, and restoration never be confused with entitlement. But may we also be delivered from that darker instinct in the crowd which smells blood and rushes in to devour the wounded.

“Brothers, even if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual, restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness, each of you looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted” (Gal. 6:1).