No Excuses! Finish

In 2 Corinthians 8:7-12, Paul reminds the church at Corinth of the promises that they had made to assist in the offering to the church in Jerusalem.  They had committed but had not followed through on their commitment.  They were to finish what they started as a demonstration of sincere love and as a response to God’s grace.  They were to finish and complete the task according to their ability.

Some of us need to finish what we started.  We were excited and eager last year.  We entered this year on fire.  We made a commitment and decided that we were going to be different.  But once we faced the same old temptations, we went back to our old ways.  Pleasing God was no longer a priority.  We started well, now we need to finish.    

Finish.  No Excuses!  The truth of the matter is that excuses usually only satisfy those who give them.  We use excuses in an attempt to justify being less than who God has called us to be.  “I would be more but my family is dysfunctional” “I would be more but I don’t have any money.”  “I would be more but I’m not educated.”  Excuses!

We use excuses to say no to God.  My job, my school work, my parents, my church, my schedule, my skills, my extracurricular activities keep me from participating in ministry. 
We use excuses to minimize our failures and justify our sins.  “I would not have said that if you wouldn’t have made me mad.”  “At least all I’m doing is watching porn.”  “We need to do something before we get married to make sure we are compatible.”  “We’re living together to see if marriage is going to work for us.”  “I lied in order to protect you.”  “What I did wasn’t that wrong, it’s not like I’m out there killing people.” 

As long as we make excuses we will never make a change.  You must come to a point where you quit making excuses for yourself.  You need to take responsibility for yourself.  Realize that although it may not be your fault, it is still your responsibility.  It may not be your fault that you got knocked down, but it is your responsibility to get up.

​No excuses!  Finish.  Jesus died so that you could finish!  Jesus rose so that you could finish!  Jesus lives so that you can finish!  It is not enough to have good intentions, we must honor our commitments.