February 10, 2014

The following excerpts are from the blog “The Writing on My Heart” from Joe Dallas’s website: … “Thirty years ago I decided to come out and be myself, to be true to my real nature, and to listen to my own authentic voice rather than those around me. So I said no to sexual sin, walked away from it, and determined by the grace of God never to practice it again.”

“I know – usually when someone makes an announcement that they’re going to be true to themselves, it’s a build up to something else. But this really was a ‘coming out’, a coming away from behaviors He never intended and which I, as His son, couldn’t continue in. I didn’t have any illusions about temptations. I knew I couldn’t just make them go away by repenting, so in saying ‘no’ to the behaviors I assumed I was also saying ‘yes’ to a lifetime, perhaps, of resisting them. But I also knew that to do as Shakepeare said – To thine own self be true and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man – then I’d have to say no to some things, yes to others, and Thy Will Be Done to God. Because that’s who I truly was, had been for years, and couldn’t be anything else. He’d written His laws on my heart. Etched them there, in fact, and ignoring them was as fruitless as ignoring my need for air.” …

“So if you wrestle with temptations today, be sure to ask Him to soften your heart towards Him and what He’s lovingly carved into that heart. Ask Him to remind you of who you really are, and what you really want in the end. Ask Him, in short, to make you true to yourself.”

“I’d never say that to a non-believer, as that would be a shortcut to eternal death. But to the new creature in Christ who can’t be plucked out of His hand, I think it’s more than safe to say be who you really are. Let Him keep fashioning you, and never stop asking Him to make you love what He loves, hate what He hates, and revel in His ongoing Lordship in your life.” …