7 Phrases Christians Love To Say That Aren't Actually True
HelloChristian 01.10.17
We are all partial to a Christian soundbite. A spiritual phrase that rolls off the tongue with ease. But we must be careful about what we
speak, and must test the Biblical accuracy of all these little statements.
Lori Hatcher at Crosswalk provides us with 7 phrases that Christians absolutely love to say, but that aren't actually true at all.
1. God won’t give you more than you can handle.
"Yes, He most certainly will. Ask the apostle Paul, who penned these words in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.”
2. The devil made me do it.
"This statement finds its genesis in the Garden of Eden. When Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God confronted her about it. She shifted the blame for her sin by saying, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate.""
3. The temptation was too strong. I couldn’t resist it.
When we’re in the midst of a temptation, resistance seems impossible. Like iron filings to a strong magnet or kids to cookies, we often feel helpless and powerless. God knows the weakness of our flesh, and he gives us a promise to help us have victory over it. First Corinthians 10:13 is one of the first verses I memorized as a new believer, and its truth has carried me through many a temptation: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” God will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. This tells us we can have victory over any temptation we encounter. Nothing is too hard to resist."
4. We’re all God’s children
"People who make this statement really mean, “God created us all,” which is accurate. God is the Father of us all in the sense that he formed us and gave us life. We are not, however, all God’s children. First John 3:10 clearly describes those who have an intimate, personal, familial relationship with God: “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” Because God is a relational being, until we accept his gift of eternal life by confessing and repenting of our sin, accepting Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross on our behalf, and surrendering our lives to him, we cannot be his children in the truest, most biblical sense of the word. We are just one of his created beings."
5. God doesn’t have favorites.
"This belief originates in the biblical truth of Peter’s words in Acts 10:34, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.” He said this when God called him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles in Cornelius’ household. It is true that, regarding salvation, God is all-inclusive. Romans 10:13 tells us, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” It’s also true, however, that God bestows special honor to certain exceptionally faithful individuals. He called Moses and Abraham his friends. Scripture refers to Daniel as “highly esteemed” (Daniel 10:11) and Mary, the mother of Jesus, "highly favored" (Luke 1:28)."
6. God helps those who help themselves.
"If you believe this proverb originates in the Bible, you’re in good company. In a February 2000 Barna Research Group poll*, 53 percent of Christians strongly agreed and 22 percent agreed somewhat that the Bible teaches the phrase. Others credit the saying to Benjamin Franklin, because he quoted it in Poor Richard’s Almanack in 1736. The modern English wording, however, appears even earlier in English political theorist Algernon Sidney’s work. The phrase, which celebrates initiative and hard work, affirms biblical virtues. It’s important to note, however, that God is most well known for helping widows, orphans, and other needy individuals who are unable to help themselves. This brings great comfort to many who fall on hard times."
7. “I’m so sorry for your loss. Heaven must have needed another angel.”
"This is probably the most theologically false condolence I’ve ever heard. People say it when babies and young children die, but they also use it to explain the deaths of godly adults. Those who say it have good motives. They’re trying to say, “Your loved one was too special (pure, innocent, or wonderful) for this world; God needed her in heaven instead.” If you follow this line of thinking, however, this implies that whenever a job opening in heaven comes up, God prowls the earth looking for sweet, innocent children or godly adults to harvest for his heavenly workforce. Not only is this wrong, it’s a direct contradiction to what the Bible teaches about angels."
