Today I am jumping in on Five Minute Friday with Kate Motaung. Five Minute Friday is a writing prompt where we write for 5 minutes flat…unedited, unscripted…just whatever comes from our heart. This is my first Five Minute Friday and I am looking forward to more.
Today’s writing prompt is the word ‘TELL’. Ready, set GO!
When we were small, and someone did not do to suit us, the first words out of our mouths were “I’m gonna tell Mother on you!” Emphatically spoken, they were enough to strike fear into any small heart. Being told on was the worst because it spelled T-R-O-U-B-L-E. There might be a spanking as a result. There surely would be some probing into my actions. Ugh! Not fun.
Over the years of walking with the Lord, I’ve learned that there is one who delights in telling on me when I mess up….and I mess up pretty often. His name is Satan. The minute I screw up, I hear that screeching voice in my head saying, “I’m gonna God on you! You are such a screw up. You can’t do anything right. I’m gonna tell!” Sometimes I even confuse his voice with my own. “Leah, you really are a mess. You can’t do anything right.”
Once upon a time, I fell victim to that telling. I bought into his lies. I was unconvinced of grace and mercy. Oh, I knew Jesus as Lord and Savior, but I didn’t understand grace and mercy. I was captive to a works based mentality. You do bad, you get told on, you simply are not good enough.
One day, I was overwhelmed with a hunger for more of God’s Word. I began in-depth Bible study, where I learned what grace and mercy is truly all about. I learned that my works don’t make me righteous in God’s eyes. Jesus’ blood, and my acceptance of His sacrifice for my sins…now that’s what makes me right in God’s eyes. Once I GOT that, it was a game changer.
With Jesus living within my heart, the Holy Spirit prompts me when I sin, and I am the one who TELLS God about my disobedience and asks for forgiveness, and a clean slate. Now, when Satan says, “I’m gonna tell on you!”, I say, “Go ahead. I have already told God all about it.”
There is freedom in TELLING on yourself to God.
