Friday Fight 182: Situational Spiritual Integrity: Compromising

Every Friday, when I wake and pray, God places something on my heart to help fight darkness beginning in our minds. Today is FF182.

When we think of the word compromise, what comes to mind? Perhaps it’s the nightly family dinner choice where not everyone gets their first pick, or maybe it is accepting standards lower than anticipated, like hotel accommodations that aren’t living up to our expectations. The problem with compromising our standards is that most people approach compromising as a one-time situation. Let’s unpack this and see how we can apply compromising to our spiritual lives to be aware of these situations before they arise.

Situational Spiritual Integrity: Compromising

Situational spiritual integrity occurs when we compromise ourselves once spiritually. We believe it will only be once, yet it leads us to future compromises. Unfortunately, these compromises can create a pattern, resulting in a changed way of life and thinking. In each of these changes, we slowly dethrone God.

So how do we stand firm against what we would typically hold fast against but believe “one time” will be okay? We can pick any addiction as we ask ourselves how many people intended only to participate one time? When we lower our spiritual standards and entertain circumstances we would normally stand firm against, darkness begins its targeted approach to shift our perspective of God’s importance. Proverbs 25:28 explains this perfectly: “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” When we make seemingly small compromises, we can inadvertently let sin flood into our lives.

These situational occurrences that we trade off open the door to compromise our integrity by seemingly satisfying unanswered questions. For example, suppose a person has been happily married for ten years and has firm boundaries to safeguard their relationship. Then, a situation is presented, and instead of protecting, one person compromises just a little. They bend the rules, believing there is no way talking to this person one time will lead to an emotional affair. Apply this to gambling, cheating, or anything else that increases the space between us and God. Compromising is not always something we are doing; it could be something we fail to do because we believe we are strong enough to stand against it. For that sin to progress, even slowly, we must displace God to elevate the sin.

What is the answer? If we seek the Word and find it, as we are encouraged to do as followers of Christ, we can apply the Word to keep our spiritual senses from being diminished. The Word is our guide, strength, and reassurance in times of compromise. In Matthew 6:9-13 we are given the Lord’s Prayer, which asks God to lead us from temptation and deliver us from evil. Let’s start with making it a priority to pray this when our day begins and in doing so, commit to asking God to walk with us throughout our day.

Pastor Shannon

New Life