A few years back at Faith Alive Ministries in New York we had a men's group called the "Homeboys". It was a group of men who came from different back rounds and cultures. Some recently out of jail, gangs, drug dealing and drug using. Some had recently accepted Christ, some who hadn't yet accepted Christ and we also had some who I would call veterans in the faith. We always tried to keep things real and transparent as possible. We had a saying that ended up being something we would use for some time. We would always say that we were all "Under Construction". What does that mean? What it meant for me was that we will always be trying to work at renewing ourselves. It was always going to be something that I had to work at; a constant building and transformation.

I realized that this construction will never stop. We will always be working at trying to be "Christ Like". We should never think that we have it all figured out. The moment we think we have it figure out is the moment we realize that we don't have it figured out. We go through different phases in our life which has to bring change. Those changes should also bring maturity. If they don't then you find yourself going through the same things over and over again. We should be constantly growing spiritually. So if we are constantly growing we will always be "under construction".

What prevents us from growing? Here are a couple of things. PRIDE ! Yes, pride is one of those 7 deadly sins. I believe in almost every sin there is a little bit of pride. Pride means to inflate with self-conceit and high minded. Pride makes us unclean and profane. (Mark 7:22, 23); It is also not of the Father but of the world. (1 John 2:16) Proverb 16:18 says that pride comes before destruction. Wow! That is strong. Sometimes we confuse our faith and confidence with pride because there is a thin line between the two. That's why we should never think that we got it all together. I hear many people say that they're humble but the fact that they say that they are humble shows that they may not be. Being humble is something that someone else should say about you because of the example that you set. Being under construction you will always realize that at any moment you can collapse so you will always be prepared and it will be difficult for pride to set in. You will also make sure that you will put yourself in safe positions. Sometimes we are not as strong as we think so we must set restrictions or boundaries. If we don't set those boundaries we set ourselves up for temptation. That's why Matthew 26:41 says not to enter into temptation because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Also in James 1: 14 and 15 says that every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust which can lead to sin which leads to death or separation from God. We should never feel that we're that strong. I'm not saying that your faith won't get you through it. What I am saying is that those boundaries help build you so that when those circumstances come that are out of your control you are more prepared.

Being comfortable is also something that we must look out for. We tend to get idle when we are comfortable. When we are idle we don't move. If we're not moving because we are admiring our growth we get stuck. Then it makes it harder to get moving because laziness sets in. When we are under construction we must always be moving. Sure there are times that we need to rest. Even God rested. But it should be brief and we have to be careful not to get complacent. Also, life's problems stop our growth because we may be tempted to give up. Those issues cause you to lose faith which ends up stopping our growth. We start doubting whether it's worth it to continue these changes in our lives. We actually start to feel sorry for ourselves and get into pity parties. That's the time that we have to press forward in our changing and rebuilding. Those are the times that being under construction helps us see how far we have come. If we fall apart we have to question whether or not we have really changed. It's easy to have faith when everything is going good for us but as we continue to grow in those tough times we will see how strong our faith has become.

I want to end this thought with this. Have you ever been in a store that is being renovated and there are signs that say "Pardon our appearance as we are "Under Construction". The store is still in business. It's still business as usual or else that store will go out of business. The store is renovating to improve there appearance to draw more customers. That's how we should be. Even though our appearance in the inside may not look the best, we know that we are working on improving ourselves. We know that God is constructing us and that will also cause people to draw to us. That gives us more opportunity to tell people about Christ. It's important to constantly try to renew our minds and realize that we will always be under construction. The moment we stop renewing our minds and stop growing is the moment we begin to die spiritually. We begin to separate ourselves from the things of God. Sometimes we can even be so wrapped up in our spouse, jobs, kids, schools and, yes, ministry that we don't realize that we have stopped growing. We think we got it together and don't realize that we are still in the same place we were a few years ago. Are you still "Under Construction"? I know that I still am and will always be.