Today’s Bible Verse

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

James 1:23-24

Living a Double Life

I grew up in a broken home with divorced parents and learned at a very young age, how to deceive others. I began by deceiving my parents, realizing they would compete for my attention. Guilt was plaguing my dad for being absent, and my attitude towards him was, “Well, you were never there, so you SHOULD do this!” Knowing that my mom didn’t want to fail as a mother, when I got into trouble at school, I would come home and fight with her saying, “I just want to live with my dad,” and she would pull back.

At the age of 23, married with 2 children at the time, I found myself, again, living a life of lies and deception. My husband, who I was with since I was 16 years old, looked at me one day, with tears in his eyes and said, “I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

As hard-hearted as I was at the time, that statement stabbed my soul. The truth was, I didn’t even know who I was. I couldn’t keep up with my lies. Life was crashing, and it was crashing hard. The “poor-thing” approach wasn’t working anymore. People were just sick of me and sick of my lies. 

It was then that I realized I needed help; I needed God. I couldn’t keep living a double life and hurting everyone around me.

James 1:23-24 makes it clear: if we don’t become “doers” of the Word, we will lose our identity. Being a “doer” of the word means living out what the word says. It wasn’t until I got the revelation that I am created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), that I realized I needed to repent for the double life I was living. Your image and life are purposed for one reason and one reason only, and that is to be a reflection of Jesus Christ. (Samantha DeCorte)

Change My Story

Did you ever look in the mirror and ask yourself, “What happened to you? Who are you?” 

I ask you the question today: Are you living a double life? Are you struggling to remember the last lie you told your spouse, so when you get home, you can be consistent with your story?  Are you asking other people to lie for you, entrapping them into your sin, so you have an alibi? Do you speak nicely to your children when you’re at church, yet, at home, you’re cussing them out and slicing them with your words? If your co-workers found out you were a leader in the church, would they be shocked?

When I determined to stop living a double life, it wasn’t because I got caught and felt guilty. It was because I was so disgusted by the sin that it made me sick to my stomach.

I tell you today, family, if you’re not sickened to the core of living a double life filled with secrets and lies, you’re not ready to change. If your eyes are not opened to the damage that this will do to your family if you don’t repent today, you still think this is about you.  If you don’t fall to your knees thanking God for showing you mercy, you won’t honor the blood that Jesus Christ shed on the Cross for your redemption. 

God wants to Change Your Story! Confess today’s declaration with confidence and assurance.

Today’s Declaration

Lord, I repent to You for living a double life. I may have hidden sin from my family, my leader, and those who love me, but my sin was never hidden from You. I expose deception, manipulation, lies, and secrets that I have kept hidden. I declare that I have been cleansed by the Blood of Jesus and no longer live under the curse. I repent, and I am making a radical change to return to that high place, never going back again. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Today’s Bible Reading

• Old Testament: 1 Samuel 19-20; Psalms 103
• New Testament: Mark 12:13-27; 2 Corinthians 8