Romans 14:23

^23 But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Self deception begins with the crossing of a line. Currently in America we don’t have too much religious disagreement about the eating of food sacrificed to idols. First, we don’t think we have idols, and second, we don’t sacrifice food to them. We won’t talk about Superbowl BBQ parties! That would be getting personal! But the idea that we cross the ‘sin’ line in our actions might be a better concept for us to think about. There are things that we do, say or think that we know are sin in our lives, and yet we do, say, or think them anyway. We have internal lines, some drawn by us, some drawn by the Spirit, some drawn by others. These lines can be helpful in restraining our internal wanderings. It is like the rules during a sporting event. They help makes sense out of a bunch of men running around on some painted grass. The rules establish boundaries and interaction guidelines. The guideline presented here is a very definite line, a hard stop if you will. If an action does not have its origin in faith, that action is sin. If we are crossing an internal line drawn by the Spirit then we are sinning. But how do I know if the line has been drawn by the Spirit or is just there because someone else has drawn the line and we have never challenged its presence? Simple, and yet the most difficult. We must be in the Scriptures, reading and meditating, connected to a fellowship of Jesus followers for accountability, and finally, and most importantly, we must have a living, vital, personal relationship with the Spirit. Then His still small voice can guide us away from self-deception and into the freedom that comes in simply saying ‘yes’ when He speaks. Say ‘yes’ today!