Ten More Minutes on Joseph & Integrity

Most of us don’t plan to blow up our integrity. We just get comfortable living near a boundary and calling it “fine.” Ryan Ritchie and Pastor David Rogers slow down Cross Point Church’s Sunday message to look closely at Joseph in Genesis 39, where temptation isn’t theoretical, it’s personal, persistent, and costly. Joseph’s choice to flee Potiphar’s wife becomes a clear picture of Christian integrity that’s rooted in wisdom, not bravado. 

We talk honestly about sexual temptation and why Scripture treats sexual immorality as a category you don’t play with. That includes the hidden battles many people fight alone, from lust to pornography, and why “distance” is sometimes the most spiritual decision you can make. We also unpack Jesus’ warning in Matthew 26 to “watch and pray,” showing how awareness of danger and dependence on God work together when the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. 

Along the way, we get practical about spiritual disciplines, daily resolve, and the kind of accountability that actually helps, the kind built on transparent relationships and biblical community. A simple tape-on-the-table illustration challenges the habit of “how close can I get without crossing,” and reframes righteousness as walking with God, turning our eyes toward what is truly beautiful. If you’ve ever felt stuck in shame after failing, there’s hope here: you can turn back and walk toward God again. 

Subscribe for more conversations like this, share it with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave a review so more people can find the podcast. What’s one temptation you want to stop managing and start fleeing?

Transcript

Welcome To Ten More Minutes

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Well, welcome back to Ten More Minutes. This is an original podcast from Cross Point Church, uh, where we're just gonna take a little extra time and sit with Sunday's message. I'm Ryan Ritchie. I'm here with Pastor David Rogers again. And Sunday morning always tends to move quickly, and the truths are not meant for us to rush past them. And let's stay just a little longer with them. Let's think on what God is teaching us just a little bit longer. David, this past Sunday you took us through Genesis uh 39 through Joseph and this real moment of uh of temptation and this decision that he has to not just sit with it, but to flee and to run. And it really paints a clear picture of integrity, and it's one that is a challenging one. And so let's take just a little bit longer and let's spend some time on it. So let's do that right now. Let's take 10 more minutes. Let's get started. I want to start just in a familiar place. You know, anytime we prepare to to share God's word, there's always kind of a direction you end up going, but then there's some stuff that sort of gets left off. Oh, yeah. You know, and so where where's some of that this week as you were looking at Joseph? Uh maybe something that didn't make it into the message.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Yeah, uh there's I feel like I'm kind of a stuck record here because every week you ask me that question and there's I always say, Well, there's so much about the person we're studying. Right. And and there is, uh, especially when we get in the old testament, we look at the guys we've been looking at, and Joseph is no different. I mean, there's a lot there uh that we could study. Um, and uh knowing that you were going to ask me that question, I started thinking about it. And uh, you know, one of the things uh I started off and I gave a little bit of background uh to who Joseph was, but I I think if I had one thing I could kind of dig into a little bit and maybe offer a little bit more, it would probably be the relationship that he had with his father. You know, um one of the things that's really interesting about that is you see uh, you know, that uh right out at the beginning that he was uh Joseph was very uh highly favored. Yeah. You know, his dad loved him, showed favoritism toward him, yeah, and um had a really special love. And the scripture tells us it's because he's older when he had him. Uh and uh and so just thinking about the entirety of Joseph's life and the fact that you know his dad went through uh this time of just loving his son, having this kind of favorite son, then suddenly the son's missing, so there's this time of separation, you know, he doesn't know what's happened to his son and assumes the worst, you know, and uh and and so all this uh this grief that he must have gone through. I mean, you know, just sort those things interest me. You know. Then I think about the relationship he had with his brothers, you know, and it was a totally opposite relationship. You know, they uh they um they did not like him. Uh, you know, they recognized the favoritism that dad showed toward the the youngest son, and and so uh they grew bitter and and hated and and it and that hatred turned to um this idea of just wanting to kill him to take his life. And like I said, Sunday, by the grace of God, you know, his life was spared. Uh, but then you see what the brothers went through, this time of you know, sort of feeling guilty. You know, the scriptures even tell us that they felt guilty and um it actually caused Joseph to turn away when he had finally saw his brothers again, you know, and he heard those words that they felt guilty about what they had done to him, and he turned away and began to weep, you know. So, but then you see the restoration with the brothers, you know, and at first they were a little nervous that retribution might be in order, yeah but uh but then ultimately we see forgiveness. And you know, so that's just a those parts of the story are really interesting to me. But also I think, you know, what made him such a person of integrity? Because all through his life we see one example after another of integrity. It certainly wasn't from his brothers, you know. Uh his brothers weren't men of integrity, so what was it about him? So that you know, uh as you study for a sermon, and you know, you you there is a challenge to what do I put in, what do I leave out, you know, and uh it certainly makes it tough when you've got so much to talk about about a particular guy.

Why Sexual Temptation Requires Flight

SPEAKER_00 4:29

You talk about integrity as a topic and just the the the closure at the end of that story, you know, of how he is uh gracious in his response to his brothers, you know, and uh comes from a position where God has blessed his life tremendously, and the opposite has happened in the life of his brothers. That's right. And uh now they're in great famine and in great need, and the only person that can provide for them is the one that they have turned their backs on. Right. Right. And so uh he responds as a type of Christ and extends, you know, a level of grace toward them uh that really does inform the kind of integrity that we see early on in his life, you know. That's right. It kind of reminds me of the idea that when we're faithful in the small circumstances that nobody's watching, God will bless us then to be faithful with the large things that happen in front of all people. And Joseph was a man of integrity from the small things all the way to the large things, right? Um so yeah, the whole story uh from start to finish is a remarkable one to follow and to see how God uses him. You know, it's also clear that Joseph is a man of great wisdom. You know, he interprets dreams, he's helpful to, you know, the the Pharaoh and the king of that time, and there's a blessing that comes along with each of those promotions from prison, you know, and captivity all the way up to second in command in the nation of Egypt, and all of that comes from this great wisdom. And I think you see wisdom as a uh a factor or a byproduct of the kind of integrity that we live with. You know, he sort of in this passage from 39 that you were talking about, he sort of has a calculating way of thinking about uh why he's making the decision he's making. Uh you know, he he says, Should I sin against God? And you pointed that out in the message, right? And so ultimately the number one thing on his mind was his relationship with God and the priority that that places in his life. Obviously, that's what helps him, I think, connect with the spirit to live with great integrity. But he also says, Listen, my master has blessed me. He's put me in charge of things, you know, he's he's given me reign over things, and I I really shouldn't do anything to upset that or to hurt that. So he's very cognizant of how living a life of integrity also is a blessing in his life. That's right. And is one that will cause him uh to have uh goodness, you know, and and uh and live in that way. And and you see how God, you know, blesses his decision-making process through that whole thing. So yeah, that's really neat. Um, you know, one thing I was gonna just you know throw into that whole deal is the temptation aspect that you talked about on Sunday, it uh centered around one particular kind of sin in this passage alone. And and it's it's the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife, and obviously she's trying to get him to lie with her, right? And so there's the temptation of sex. And uh and sexual temptation is of a higher degree. I think scripture is clear that that's one of the greatest temptations that we face in life. Um, all people do, and it's also clear the the the way that we should treat sexual immorality and sexual temptation is to to flee the way that that Joseph does. Right. And I think it's interesting that he is not casual about this particular kind of sin. It's not as if he just finds himself in a scenario in which he can treat it uh with some you know cavalier attitude. He's very serious about this particular nature of sin. And and I think we should we should see it that way, uh, the same exact way. Uh sexual immorality is not something uh to be you know just casual and joking or any any of those things. It's something to absolutely f flee from. The other thing we see is that in scripture, you pointed out 1 Corinthians, when it talks about fleeing from sexual immorality, you know, it talks about this word pranea in the Greek, which is clear it's not just one act or another act, it's a whole category of acts, right? Because that's where we get the word pornography. And so even the secret things we do alone by ourselves in order to fulfill sexual desire that isn't found in marriage between one man and one woman as God designed it to be, that's breaking a code of sexual immorality that God has not designed us and created us for. It is harmful to us, and it's not something to be casual about, it's something to flee from the way that Joseph did. And um, I think uh, you know, that's one thing that I might want to go back and just spend some time with because it seems like our culture just treats sex like it's another thing.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Oh yeah. I I think we see that all throughout our culture today is uh it's um it's it's you know, I I remember years ago uh a mentor of mine uh we were talking about sexual immorality and the temptation that that men face every day, you know. Uh we were two men just talking and and I remember he said, you know, he says, David, I learned a long time ago that you just have to learn to bounce your eyes. And uh I found myself uh, you know, after he made that statement, just uh it seems like every time we were out, you know, I was literally, you know, doing this with with my just looking away from what might tempt us, you know, and uh cause us to to think uh uh in a way that is is not holy or pursuing the righteousness of Christ. And so uh but but these days, I mean that was a while back. These days, uh, with with all the different influences that we have in our life, you know, all the things that we watch and all the things we hear, you know, it's uh it's a tough place to be in this world.

Defining Temptation Through Watch And Pray

SPEAKER_00 10:01

There's significant importance in the life of a believer, creating distance between yourself and where you might find that temptation to be in the middle of sexual immorality. Just like Joseph did, it's for us to flee from. I think we're gonna maybe spend a little bit more time talking about this kind of thing here in just a minute, but let's switch courses for a second and and talk about some parts of the message that you maybe want to go back to and and spend a little bit more time. I for we had 10 more minutes in the message, and we could just maybe lean into one area. Where do you want to go back?

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Right. I I think uh I think for me uh just focusing more on what temptation is. I mean, the message was on integrity, and so as you're as you're preaching a sermon, you're trying to get to the big idea of what integrity is and talk about that and the example that Joseph set for us in that. But but uh I touched on temptation, and uh, and temptation is something that I really had a heart, I almost found myself wanting to preach on that uh in some ways. And so that would certainly be something that uh I would want to go back and and talk about or add to the message. Uh, you know, I used a a verse out of Matthew, uh, chapter 26, verse 41, and Jesus is speaking to Peter in that moment. And um, and the disciples are there and he's speaking to him, and he says to to Peter, he says, Watch and pray that you would not fall into temptation. And then he says, The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And so I spent a good bit of time talking about what that last part means. Uh, you know, the the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Is this that story where they're falling asleep in the garden?

SPEAKER_01 11:46

It is. And so um, so anyway, uh I uh I spent a good part uh a good portion of our time on the last part of that. But thinking back, I I I kind of wish I had spent a lot more time on the watch and pray. You know, I think when Jesus says to Peter, says watch, he's he's basically pointing out the need for us to be so aware of the dangers that we face, the the things that are in front of us that cause the temptation in our life, so that we uh can in being aware of those dangers that we can be more disciplined and uh not fall into sin, you know, but but uh awareness, being watchful is is so important for the Christian life. Uh and then he says, pray. And I think the the idea there um to pray, obviously we know that the scripture talks a lot about us praying. We're supposed to pray without ceasing. You know, we see Jesus setting the example for us and how often he goes to the Father. Uh he gets alone and he spends time with the Father in prayer. And so Jesus has set this example for us. But I think what he's really saying to Peter here that I think is really interesting is he's he's helping us understand our dependency on God, you know, because we are in the midst of a spiritual battle every single day, you know, and the temptation just brings that to the forefront. You know, we are on the front lines of of it all. And so we can be watchful and we can uh be aware, uh, but but we can do that really in our own strength to some degree. Um but uh but to overcome the temptation to not fall to sin um is going to be uh something we have to heavily lean on the Lord for. And so I think Jesus is really pointing out a dependency of God in that situation for us to to watch and pray and to to make sure we're spending time with the Lord, you know, practicing those spiritual disciplines that are so important in our life.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Yeah. Love the comparison in that story of disciples to to Jesus, right? Jesus is praying so intently and fervently that it says he sweats drops of blood, right? Uh but for the disciples, they're weary and tired, right, and they can't help but to just fall asleep rather than being watchful and praying and which he'd called them to do. You know, temptation is one of these things that uh, you know, scripture tells us in Hebrews that that Jesus was tempted in every way like we were yet he was without sin. Right. And sometimes I think we look at the life of Jesus and we say, Well, there's no way he was tempted the same way that I am. He's he didn't sin, so how could he possibly be tempted the same way that I am? I I struggle with this, I struggle with this, and I don't see any of that in the life of Christ. So how is it that Jesus was very similar to me in those ways? But what we don't realize about temptation is it's like hanging from a high bar. And when you're just hanging there, uh eventually it begins to grow harder and harder and harder to hang on. Right. And when we let go, we experience a momentary relief followed by the guilt of letting go. I wish I could have held on longer. Right. And Jesus never let go, right, which means he endured the kind of pain that temptation brings without falling to it to the very end.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

And we've never known that kind of pain. We've never known that kind of difficult struggle because we've usually never not fallen. Right. You know, we've always reached a point in our lives where we sin and we fall to that temptation, and we experience the kind of shame that comes from letting go, but Christ never has. And so that's a different kind of temptation than any of us. So a a further, a deeper, uh, a harder kind of temptation than any of us have ever faced in our lives. And that's really what scripture talks about right there.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

That's right.

Resolve And Accountability That Actually Helps

SPEAKER_00 15:49

I love to, in your passage there from Matthew, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And I I don't know why, but when I read that, I think of like a scales of justice sort of thing almost, or just even a scale of sorts. Um, you know, the spirit on one side, the flesh on the other side, and this sort of constant tug and pull between the two in our lives. And I wonder, you know, what we can do then in our lives uh to balance the scales more toward living in the spirit and less toward living in the flesh. If our flesh is weak, and we know we can't change that, right? Our flesh will always be weak. And the goal is not to make our flesh stronger by whatever tactics we can come up with. The goal is not to live in our flesh, the goal is to live in the spirit. And so you just pointed out, I think, some great, you know, watching and praying, be mindful. What are some other ways maybe that people can, you know, extend the strength in the spirit and diminish the weakness of the flesh?

SPEAKER_01 16:44

Right. And I I mentioned this in the message, but I think it's it's worth mentioning again. Um I think uh I think of two things. One, I think of uh the fact that we need to resolve in our heart, you know, that we are not gonna sin. Yeah. I mean, I I think uh, you know, we talk about getting up in the morning and putting on our spiritual armor, uh, that we can face the day and and you know, just relying on God to keep us safe and whatnot. But but uh, you know, as we as we lean upon the Lord uh to help us go throughout the day without sin in our life, I mean, how many of us are praying, Lord, uh help me not to sin, you know, lead me not to lead me not to temptation. Right. And um, and so resolving in our heart that today is going to be a day where I have victory over sin, you know, and and I think uh just preparing for this message really challenged me with that. I don't know that I pray for that every day, you know, and yet every day I'm tempted. And so resolving in our hearts, and uh, you know, I went to uh Daniel 1.8, uh, where I looked at at Daniel and I and I showed this uh example, which I think is a perfect example, where it says that he resolved in his heart uh not to sin, you know, not to defile himself. And uh he, I mean, he meant he he did not want to do that. But the second thing I think, or another thing that we could sort of mention here is accountability. You know, we need each other as brothers and sisters in our life. We we we need Christian brothers and sisters. I think that's why biblical community is so important. Yeah, you know, uh having people in our life that we can that'll ask us the hard questions, and an honest community. Honest community, right. And and and just uh having people watch out for us. The scriptures are very clear that we are to build each other up. You know, how are we to build each other up? I think one of the greatest ways we can build each other up is not just through words of affirmation and encouragement, although I love those things, you know. Uh but um but the reality is uh, you know, uh how are you helping me be a uh a more faithful and obedient servant of God? And how am I doing the same for you? And so in that passage, I think it's really interesting where we see Daniel, and he said it says it that he not only resolved, you know, to not sin against God, but he went to the chief of eunuchs and he asked him to hold him accountable. He asked him to help him to not defile himself. And I just think that's so interesting that he he went to you know somebody who was who was a part of his daily routine and asked them to help him not defile himself. And so I think there's there's several things that we can always be aware of, certainly, you know, on our own watch and pray, but then bringing others into our life. And um, and I I remember a brother years ago who came to me um and I always looked up to this guy as probably one of the most spiritual guys I've ever known. Um I didn't I don't know that I ever knew him to sin, you know. Uh he was just a really uh amazing man of God and he walked with God and he came to me one day and just began to confess to me sin in his life. And I was taken back a little bit because I just never expected it. I guess I kind of saw him as perfect. Uh and and and as I was sitting there thinking, why is this happening? Why is he confessing this? At the end of that conversation, he looked at me and he says, I feel like you are one person that I can confess this to. And the reason I've done that is I want to ask you to hold me accountable. I think that's the first person that I've ever had in my life turn to me and say, Hold me accountable after just uh a time of confession of sin in his life. And there was such transparency. Um and and we have continued, that was gosh, that was 30 years ago. We've continued to to have conversations to this day. Yeah, you know, and um I really um and and since then I've asked him of the same thing, you know, to hold me accountable. And so we've we find ourselves in conversation, quite honestly, I mean, quite often, you know, just asking how we're doing spiritually.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

I think that's great. You know, um you said on Sunday, you said that it's not about bravery. You said integrity is not about bravery, it's about wisdom. And when I think about this idea of accountability, community, and relationships with one another. Sometimes we think we're the ones that need to be the strongest people in the room. Right. And we can't divulge to other people where our weaknesses are and where our struggles are because that would diminish our influence. And I think the opposite is true. Our influence comes when we can wisely admit this is something I struggle with and I need help with. And then we can actually find ourselves in relationships that do good and that work wonders together in our lives. Part of that admitting is recognizing that temptation comes through desire in our hearts. That's right. That comes from um uh James. In in chapter one of James he says that temptation actually starts in our desire, and desire when it is conceived, then gives birth to sin. And uh and so recognizing, okay, I do have this desire. It is a weakness of mine, it is causing me to to walk a road towards sin. I need to be able to recognize that and and find help from some of those things, find community that can change my desire a little bit. And I want us to talk some more about that and maybe shift into kind of the third and final segment here of just talking about how people can uh really apply this in their lives a little bit more. And so, you know, where where's one part of the passage that you might go back and and say, uh, you know, how can we carry this with us throughout the week?

SPEAKER_03 22:50

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

I um I think if I were to go back to the message, I think probably um, you know, as I look at this, you know, uh watch out uh for what you allow into your life. Uh, you know, I I remember years ago when I first gotten into ministry, um I I did this uh children's musical, believe it or not, I sang. Uh had a couple of solos there. So sweet, you know. How old was this? Uh uh it was uh probably 25, 30 years ago. Yeah, it was a while back. But anyway, um uh but we we sang this little song with the kids and it was it was talking about garbage in, garbage out, you know. Yeah. And uh and so it was uh I think it's uh a great uh thing for us to understand that there's so many things that we're exposed to in our world today. Uh so I guess I guess if you're asking like life application or whatever, I would say be watch out for what you allow in. Yeah. You know, uh gosh, that we're we're just so I I'm getting to the point nowadays where there's just uh hardly anything worth watching, you know, as it relates to uh entertainment these days. I mean it's just it just seems as though just everything's garbage. And so it for me personally, I've just about stopped all of that, you know, because I know how harmful it can be in my life. Um, but I think uh I think one of the things too that I mentioned that I think is very important is is to be weary, uh be weary of uh those who influence us. You know, um I mentioned I I kind of closed the message out talking about um you know uh God's God's word to us uh needs to be a whole lot more authorit uh completely authoritative in our life. Uh it's it's more powerful, it's more important than what people think about us or how they influence us. And we have to be careful with that. Uh you know, there's so many people that in our life that may, you know, we may consider them friends that that uh can just easily lead us astray. And sometimes their their intentions are good, you know. And what I mean by that is they they feel like the words that they say to you are helping when they're really contrary to maybe what God's calling, you know, calling us to. Um, and uh so so be careful with that and uh and don't allow uh you know bad influences in your life to to lead you astray because uh I'm telling you, your your relationship with the Lord is the most important thing. I had this friend right out of high school um who uh again was one of these guys that just live for the Lord. Man, he had such a close walk. And I can remember, you know, we would get invited to participate in things that um uh you know, opportunities where there was certainly gonna be temptation, uh, opportunities to sin, you know, just just different things that we were invited into. And I I remember how quickly his response was. It was nope, not gonna do it, not going, not gonna be there. And I remember people who used to think he was just square, you know, he was uh you know, just being uh, you know, just sort of living this life of holier than thou. But looking back, I think, man, uh how he was guarding his heart against um things that could have so easily led him astray. Yeah. And um and so um I think as I think about what I took away from that is just be careful about what comes in and be careful with the influences that are in your life, um, the bad influences, you know, seek those brotherly uh uh you know people in your life that can hold you accountable, lead you in the right direction. They're out there.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Um they're out there.

The Tape Line That Misleads Us

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Well, and as you mentioned on Sunday, you know, God is is always with us, and that is meant to be a help to us. It's not meant to be uh a scary thing, but it does mean that God's always with us even in the darkest times of our lives, and we should live that way. We should live you know as Him as the Lord of our lives. Um I wanted to to close with kind of a physical illustration. We sort of talked about this yesterday. Yeah, we were talking uh but it's kind of like this line in temptation between good and evil, between sin and not sin. So I brought um I brought a little piece of tape here to sort of illustrate this. So if you're just listening, I'm I'm gonna pull out a roll of tape and I'm gonna put it right down here in the middle of our table. There's a table that is dividing David and I, and now there is a line of table. What side am I on? I well, you're gonna be on the you're gonna be on the wrong side. Okay. All right. All right, so this cup is going to represent um God and everything that is holy and righteous. That's right. And then I'm gonna take this other blue coaster over here, and and this blue coaster over here is is gonna represent sin. And the ultimate consequence of sin, as the Bible teaches, is what? Death is death, right? And so that's what that represents. I'm gonna pull um a random pen. I like this color. This is a light blue color. That's cute. And uh this pen is gonna represent one of us, okay? Any one of us. And uh the line in the middle is the kind of mental line that oftentimes we draw between living righteously and living in sin. And sometimes without effort, we just tend to think this way, that there's a line that separates good and evil, that there's a line that separates righteous living and unrighteous living. And sometimes it's conscious. Sometimes we decide for ourselves that there is to be a boundary, and that then when I define a boundary, whatever that boundary is, that that boundary then becomes the line between good and evil, the line between sin and living righteously. And so what we do is rather than living over here near where God is, uh, we tend to live all the way up to as close as the line as we could get without crossing the line. Right. We tend to say, if I've drawn this line of boundary, then I'm gonna just kind of flirt with it. Right. I'm just gonna kind of sit next to it. As long as I don't cross that line. As long as I don't cross the line, I'm still living righteously, I'm still on the good team. Okay, I'm not on the bad team yet. And so I'm just gonna sort of sit here. The problem is that when we do that, our perspective is often shifted toward what is bad for us.

SPEAKER_02 29:30

Right.

SPEAKER_00 29:31

We're looking at the boundary, we're looking at what's crossing. Beyond the boundary boundary. We're saying, I'm not gonna touch it, I'm just gonna sit next to it. I'm just gonna stand next to it. And Psalm 1 tells us we shouldn't sit in, we shouldn't stand in the way of, we shouldn't walk in, you know, and of course we're looking at this object lesson from Joseph that tells us we should what? Flee from, run away from. And so um what we're doing when we do this in life is we are not keeping our eyes fixed on Christ. We're keeping our eyes fixed on sin.

SPEAKER_02 30:00

Right.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

And the goal for us should be to transform what looks beautiful to us. Because when we do this, oftentimes we're saying what's just beyond the line is kind of what I really want. That's what I really desire. That's actually what's beautiful to me. Okay. Um, I just can't get to it because God tells me I shouldn't. Right. You know, but really God and everything in the holy and righteous category, as close as we can get to him, this is where the fullness of joy is found. This is where beauty and love and this is where our design is meant to be. Uh, but we run away, even when we feel like we're not in sin, we're sort of running away from God as close as we can get to it. I feel like we we need to turn.

SPEAKER_02 30:38

Right.

SPEAKER_00 30:39

And we need to not feel like what's on this side is beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

We need to turn and redefine for ourselves keeping our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith. Exactly. Right.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

What's beautiful to us. One more little encouragement here. Um, what happens when maybe we say, Um, you know, we've done this, and then we say, uh, I I I have crossed the line. Um, I I accidentally did something I didn't want to do. You know, scripture tells us that sometimes we're not even in control of our own thoughts and our thoughts will lead us to action, and and we did cross the line. We've messed up. The temptation then is to say, Well, I messed up once, I can mess up again. Right. It's not that big of a deal. And we tend to minimize the idea of living in sin. Keeping grace. Actually sort of live a little bit closer to death than where we think uh we should. Um we just tend to excuse things. Sometimes we tend to redraw the line. We tend to think, well, actually, I sort of meant to draw the line over here.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

Right. Move the goalposts.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

We sort of move the goalposts a little bit, and then we sort of redefine for ourselves what sin is in our lives, what it means to live righteously anyway, and we still just sort of live all the way close to it. Or sometimes, sometimes we've crossed the line and we just sort of feel a guilt and a shame that uh just drowns us in sorrow. Um, and we feel like there's no chance that I could grow closer to God because I've totally messed up here. Right. Right. But the reality is that this line doesn't exist.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

Right.

Final Encouragement And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 32:04

There is no line between good and evil, between sin and not sin, except for what's defined in scripture. And sin is defined as being separated from God, and living righteously is defined as walking with God. And when we can turn ourselves back toward a perspective that is looking and pursuing and seeking after the righteousness of God, then no matter where we are in the perspective, God can wipe our slate clean and we can walk towards him again, no matter where we are. And that's the beauty of the whole thing. Sometimes even in the battle of sin and temptation, we look at ourselves, we say, I'm not Joseph. I messed up. Well, the good news is that there is someone like Joseph who never messed up, right, who paid the penalty for our sins and gives us the chance to repent and to turn toward him and to find righteous living again, to find new life again. And so I just thought that's a really neat way of sort of talking about it to some degree and just encouraging. Whether you feel like you're on the good side of the tape or the bad side of the tape, all of us need to turn and to pursue the beauty of what the Lord has for us. Absolutely. It's a good message on Sunday, and really a great topic of temptation we all need and integrity and uh and standing in the light of the of Jesus and what he's called us to. And so, David, thanks for slowing it down for us. Oh, yeah. Coming back to the message and crosspoint family, thank you for taking a few extra minutes. So we hope that you would just maybe not even keep it on this podcast, but take it with you into your families, into your homes, with your friendships, with those accountability partners. Hey, let's be vulnerable with each other. Let's be honest with each other. Let's talk about where our weaknesses are and how we want to grow in the spirit to walk and live more like Jesus Christ. And so take this message with you and spend a few more minutes extra this week. We'll see you next time on 10 more minutes.