Which Voice Will You Listen To?

I once knew a man with paranoid schizophrenia.  He heard the voices of members of a gang with a plan to overthrow society.  No matter who talked with him and tried to persuade him that these voices were not real people, that the threat was not real; he refused to listen to reason.

In a similar way, all of us must decide which voices we are going to heed, which voices are telling us the truth and which are filling our heads with lies.  In my lost state of addiction, I had come to accept dozens of mistruths.  I believed that I could never tell my secret to anyone.  I was convinced there was no way out. I thought the compulsive cycle of porn had trapped me and that I was doomed to keep repeating my errors.

I desperately needed to listen to the voice of truth.  I longed for a compass to point me in the right direction and help me find my way home.  I ached for someone to offer me hope that I could be a better person and live a new life.

This voice is the Good Shepherd who said: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10-11). Jesus also said: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).

Through his faith in Jesus, the apostle Paul wrote these words to believers like you and me in the city of Philippi:

“I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

I’m so glad that the Lord does not view me through the lens of all my failures and my worst mistakes. His voice is the one that tells me my life can be different. He sees a new and improved me. His Spirit is at work within me and will carry out His plan of redemption today and tomorrow. This is the voice I choose to follow.