DaleTedder.com
  • Home
  • About
    • Natalie Tedder
    • The Fellowship of Ailbe
    • Reflections Ministries
  • Here I Stand
    • Heidelberg Catechism
    • Apologetics
    • C.S. Lewis
  • A Far Green Country
    • Spiritual Direction
  • Podcast
  • Bible Studies
    • Old Testament Essentials
    • New Testament Essentials >
      • Ephesians: Growing Up in Christ
      • Philippians
    • Lord of All
    • Costly Discipleship
    • Ten Commandments
    • Spiritual Power
    • Master Plan of Evangelism >
      • How to Interpret Scripture
      • A Different Gospel
  • Sermons
    • Pastoral Ministry
    • Richard Baxter
  • Prayer Journal
    • Spiritual Life Checkup
  • My Books & Study Guides
  • Southside Men
    • Men's Discipleship Basics
    • Links for Godly Manhood
    • Southside Men History

Devotions

​

Beware of Double-Mindedness

6/4/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
James 1:8 – he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

How Wide are the Gaps?

Let me ask you a few questions that relate to this issue of being double-minded.

·     Are you the same person at home with your family as you are at church?
·     Are you the same person at church as you are work?
·     Are you the same person when you’re out with your friends that you are in your small group or Bible study?
·     Are you the same person with your family as you are sitting alone in front of the computer or television screen?
·     Are you the same person away on a business trip as you are at home?
·     How radically different is your thought-life from your public persona?

Those are some pretty tough questions. And while none of us moves from sphere to sphere – from group to group – with perfect consistency, we still need to ask the question: How wide are the gaps?

Whole, Entire, Undiminished

Part, maybe even most, of that consistency will come from how “integrated” our lives are regarding our relationship with God.  The words “integrated” and “integrity” come from the same root word. One of the dictionary’s definitions for integrity is,

“the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished.”

The double-minded man, however, is not known for his integrity, but his duplicity. Duplicity means,
“deceitfulness in speech or conduct; speaking or acting in two different ways concerning the same matter with intent to deceive.”

Duplicitous men do not have integrity. They are not whole, entire, or undiminished. They have no unifying factor that keeps them whole.
 
The Unifying Factor

But the Christian, the man of God, does have such a unifying factor. The question is: Do he make use of it? Is he related or connected to it? This unifying factor isn’t an “it” at all. It’s God. We’re called to be God-centered men who live God-centered lives. Such a man will not speak, think, and act differently and deceptively with different people and in different settings.

Why? Because the man of God will be vitally connected to the same God in every sphere of his life. God doesn’t change. Because the godly man’s life will have God as his unifying center, he will not change, from place to place, from circumstance to circumstance. God-centeredness will make and keep him whole instead of fragmented and compartmentalized.

Loving and Glorifying God

Think for a minute about what the Great Commandment says. Jesus says in Mark 12:30, we are commanded to,

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

That’s all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. In other words, with all that we are. Our whole being. Every aspect of our lives.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:31,

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

You’re not glorifying God in the big or small details of your life if you’re double-minded.

God’s Expectation

A couple of Old Testament texts that really hit home are,
  • 1 Chronicles 29:17a – I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. (idea of being whole-hearted)
  • Proverbs 10:9 – The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.
  • Proverbs 11:3 – The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

God expects us to walk with integrity before him and others.

How Are You Doing?

How are you doing in the various spheres of your life? I don’t know about you, but I want to be the same man in every sphere of my life: In private, at home with my family, work, church, or with my friends. I want to be the same man regardless of who I’m with or where I am. How about you?

Let’s pray God will form and shape us into the God-centered men of integrity he’s called us to be.

Walking Points
  • Take a look at the list below and ask yourself how you’re doing in each area. Are you living a consistently God-centered life in each? If not, why not?
  • What can you do today to become more consistent in the following areas? 
  • Work through this list with two or three Christian brothers and talk about what being God-centered in each category would look like and what it would it take to get there. Start working on it today!
·     Spiritual Integrity
·     Mental Integrity
·     Sexual Integrity
·     Behavioral Integrity
·     Verbal Integrity
·     Moral Integrity
·     Relational Integrity
 
Prayer

Holy and gracious Lord of heaven and earth, you are the Creator and King of all there is. There is no area in human existence about which you are unconcerned. Forgive me for not surrendering all of my life to you… for trying to keep back even a small portion for myself and my own agenda. Please remind me daily that you want my whole life to be lived with integrity, no matter where I am, what I am doing, or who I am with. Please empower me with your Spirit to live a consistent life that continually and faithfully points others to you – by my words, my thoughts, my values, my beliefs, my attitudes, my desires, and my actions. In Christ I pray. Amen.

This Week’s Prayer Guide

[You can use this prayer guide in your own personal prayer time. However, I encourage you to use it with a group of Christian men. Each week you should spend time praising God for who he is, confessing your sin to him (be specific) as well as expressing gratitude to him for his gracious forgiveness. Also, don’t forget to thank God for the many ways he has poured out his goodness in your life. Then, focus on the following areas of supplication, which will change from week to week.]

Petitions – prayers for yourself

·         Give me greater knowledge, depth of insight, and understanding of God’s Word.
·         Remind me daily of who I am in Christ. Let me be defined by who God says I am, not the world around me.
·         Guide me into greater understanding and faithfulness of God’s call in my life.
·         This week’s events and interactions with others, planned and unplanned
·         Other needs

Intercession – prayers for others

·         My family
·         My pastor(s), church staff, and missionaries
·         Those struggling with anger, anxiety, or the overwhelming desire to please people at all costs
·         Other needs
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Click the images above to learn more about my books for men.

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017

    Categories

    All
    Accountability
    Advent
    Ambassador
    Being
    Bible
    Bible Reading
    Bible Study
    Calling
    Change
    Children
    Choices
    Christianity
    Christian Living
    Christmas
    Church
    Comfort
    Commitment
    Confession
    Courage
    Covenant
    Cross
    Culture
    Desire
    Devotional
    Discernment
    Discipleship
    Discipline
    Doing
    Easter
    Encouragement
    Epistemology
    Eternal Perspective
    Evangelism
    Every Sphere
    Evil
    Faith
    Faithfulness
    Family
    Fatherhood
    Fellowship
    Freedom
    Gifts For Ministry
    God
    God-Centered
    Godliness
    Godly Men
    God's Attributes
    God's Character
    God's Glory
    God's Love
    God's Will
    Good
    Gospel
    Grace
    Healing
    Heart
    Heaven
    Holiness
    Holy Communion
    Holy Spirit
    Hope
    Hypocrisy
    Idolatry
    Integrity
    Jesus
    Jesus Christ
    Kingdom Discipleship
    Kingdom Of God
    Knowing God
    Knowledge
    Leadership
    Legacy
    Longing
    Longing For God
    Lordship
    Love
    Loyalty
    Manhood
    Means Of Grace
    Men
    Men's Ministry
    Mentoring
    Ministry
    Mission
    Missions
    Obedience
    Parenting
    Passion
    Perseverance
    Prayer
    Preparation
    Priorities
    Purpose
    Pursuit Of God
    Redeem Your Time
    Reformation
    Relationship
    Resurrection
    Revival
    Righteousness
    Sacrifice
    Salt And Light
    Salvation
    Sanctification
    Scriptural Holiness
    Scripture
    Secularism
    Sermon On The Mount
    Shepherd
    Shepherding
    Sin
    Small Group
    Sovereignty
    Spiritual Growth
    Stewardship
    Study
    Teaching
    Temptation
    Tests And Trials
    Theology
    Thinking
    Trust
    Truth
    Vision
    Wisdom
    Witness
    Worldview
    Worship

    RSS Feed

Contact Us

The Right Path

Thanks for visiting my site! Here you will find Bible studies, books, blog posts, devotions, and more. I pray these resources will be a blessing to you. Please click here to learn more about the website, my ministry, and me.

    Subscribe Today!

Submit
  • Home
  • About
    • Natalie Tedder
    • The Fellowship of Ailbe
    • Reflections Ministries
  • Here I Stand
    • Heidelberg Catechism
    • Apologetics
    • C.S. Lewis
  • A Far Green Country
    • Spiritual Direction
  • Podcast
  • Bible Studies
    • Old Testament Essentials
    • New Testament Essentials >
      • Ephesians: Growing Up in Christ
      • Philippians
    • Lord of All
    • Costly Discipleship
    • Ten Commandments
    • Spiritual Power
    • Master Plan of Evangelism >
      • How to Interpret Scripture
      • A Different Gospel
  • Sermons
    • Pastoral Ministry
    • Richard Baxter
  • Prayer Journal
    • Spiritual Life Checkup
  • My Books & Study Guides
  • Southside Men
    • Men's Discipleship Basics
    • Links for Godly Manhood
    • Southside Men History