Oh The Wonders Of Spell Check

 Lamentations 3:40 "Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD;"

Recently I have been the victim of the grammar police here in the church office. :P
Actually, its been my own fault for not being more careful in my spelling and punctuation, but it always causes just a twinge of guilt when someone does point out my spelling errors.

Scripture says that we should be accountable to one another, "As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." (Psalm 27:17)

Even through all the precautions that I take and editing software that I use mistakes still do slip through the cracks. Whether it is a word that is not correctly spelled out such as "exam" when I meant to say, "examine", or the wrong use of spelling in a word like, "there, their, or they're" I still find myself messing up.

I use the spell check, and a program called Grammarly (yes, that is the correct spelling...I checked) that helps point out punctuation errors as well.  Yet, like I said I still find myself including misspelled words on our church website, or in our church bulletin. I will say that it is a very good thing that nobody sees my sermon notes! They might be quite horrified!

Nevertheless, spelling and grammar mistakes are not nearly as bad and as consequential as that of times in life when we mess up. Whether it be a simple misunderstanding, a large blunder, or a habitual sin problem, the consequences that we must face are much different then a little bit of red ink on a school paper.

Scripture encourages us to search ourselves out and to examine our ways.

Often times, I think we find ourselves only doing that at certain times, such as when we are about to participate in the Communion table like our church family will be doing this coming Sunday evening.

1 Corinthians 11:28 encourages us, "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup."

But what about the rest of the month when we are out living beyond the walls of the church building. What about in our places of employment, in our homes with our families, or even when we are behind the closed walls of our own private space alone. Are we still at those times searching ourselves and examining our walk of life? Are there times throughout our lives when we are constantly having to re-evaluate and "turn back to the Lord?"

There should be...

I John 1:9 says, " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

We must be honest with ourselves, and admit that sin does get into our lives, and we need to correct it before it becomes a problem in our daily lives.

It would be a blatant problem to continue to let there be obvious spelling and grammar errors appear in a church bulletin or on our website, so why would we allow sin to reign in our lives? As followers of Jesus Christ, those who have placed our faith in the saving work of our Savior, we should walk in accordance with His Word and His command, constantly following His example.

Although we don't have a "spell checking" program in our lives to prevent us from sinning, we do have God's Word that clearly defines for us how we ought to live our lives in newness of life. The question is, "Will we allow it to impact our lives, or will we just ignore the obvious?"