Walking in the Light

This is a blog posted on Vision of Hope's Blog page (http://blogs.faithlafayette.org/voh/2015/03/17/walking-in-the-light/) that I am re-posting:

Walking in the light is a biblical concept that is easily overlooked. 1 John 1:7 states: “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Obviously, the Bible commands us to practice walking in the light, and we know that whatever the Bible majors on, we should major on as well.
Walking in the light means not covering up your sin in order to look good to others. The next verse in 1 John 1 tells us that, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (v. 8) Every one of us sins, and being a part of the body of Christ means that we are willing to be vulnerable with one another for the purpose of experiencing deeper fellowship and seeking accountability. In order for us to be like Christ, we must be willing to not only be humble and genuine, asking for help when we need it, but also to help other believers to become more like Christ as well.
As mentioned in our previous blog post concerning our internship program, ladies who go through our internship also come away with many ways in which that have learned and grown in their walk with the Lord. Oftentimes, the most convicting and challenging experiences as an intern happens within a counseling session in which the intern is simply observing. It is amazing how God works to place interns into observation positions within a counseling session where the counseling that is being presented is exactly what that intern needed herself.
Sharing one of these instances, one of our current interns, Timea, shares her experience in a counseling session she recently had the opportunity to observe. To read Timea’s full story of salvation and how she came to VOH, click here. Now, be encouraged and challenged, as Timea shares what she has been learning about walking in the light:
“Interns have the privilege of sitting in on counseling when the individual residents meet with their counselors every week. We get to observe the same counselor and counselee each week and assist the counselor by writing the legal notes they have to complete. I know that I get into counseling sessions based on my availability, however, I know that ultimately God is the one who places me in the sessions. So many times the counsel I am hearing is something I need, and I know that is no accident. One lesson that has come to mind a lot recently is ‘walking In the light.’ The counselor required the counselee to weekly list 10 ways they had been transparent and vulnerable with other believers. One day he explained why he assigned this. He said it is like the fundamentals of a sport. You do this over and over again, because it is foundational to the sport. If you do not have this basic skill, you will not be able to do well in the sport or get better. He explained walking in the light is foundational to Christian growth and life. It was something I had never heard before in that way and I realized how little I did that. Just this week God has been showing me areas of sin in my life and my need to be open with other believers about my struggle and walk in the light. I am so thankful our God orchestrates every happening in my life and even the counsel I need to hear.”
None of us have it all together, so we should never try to put on the facade that we do. This is an important concept for believer to apply, and Timea’s story shows how much God wants us to keep these thoughts in mind. How awesome that we have seen how God works not only in the lives of the counselees here at VOH, but also in the lives and heart of the observers as well! For more information about our internship program, contact Jenn Heikkinen at jheikkinen@faithlafayette.org.