Reason #8 not to sin.......
Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.
This is my current issue to be sure. I'm not who I want to be. I know who I want to be, and I know that it will require changes, refinement and surrender. I've been in a pretty aggressive refining process over the last few years it would seem. There have been some highs and some very painful lows. I know, however, that none of those things touched me without first being sifted through the hand of God.
What I'm also learning is how much sin short-circuits that refining process. There are several things that I just wish I could get rid of once and for all. I don't want to struggle with them any longer. I don't want to war against my flesh. I want to just be rid of them. I'm not referring to anything heinous or "big" by today's definitions, and I'm not even saying that there are sins that I'm purposely harboring or holding onto. But, there are sins that are constant areas of struggle and oh how weary I am of them.
I'm weary because they make me less than what I could be. What they can't do, however, is change my standing. I'm still redeemed, declared righteous and covered by grace. I never want to harbor even "little" sins and disqualify myself from being all that He has planned for me.
peace.
I, too, have struggled all my life with areas that I desired so much that I could get rid of once and for all. But I read somewhere that if that happened to us we would become prideful and independent. We wouldn't need to depend on God for our strength to work thru these areas of struggle. So after all, in our weakness, strength is given to us as we hang on for dear life to the One who alone can give us what we need. It is His will that we never get strong enough to do without Him. AMEN?
ReplyDeleteouch. this one is definitely hitting the closest to home for me...what COULD i be/where COULD i be if my thoughts and the intents of my heart were ALWAYS in line with His will and purposes for me?
ReplyDeletei HAVE to believe that it is possible to o...vercome habitual sin and/or to move to a place in life where freedom from the frustrating sins that seem to hang on like a shadow are NO LONGER ISSUES IN MY LIFE.
(continued:)...) when i worked in the emergency room at our local hospital, one of my responsibilities was to transport patients and i often (probly at least once a shift) wheeled patients to behavioral health for admission/very often for ...detox.
ReplyDeletemy heart cry/prayer for them (and if appropriate... words to them) were thoughts of HOPE. there is hope for freedom from sin! "for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. for what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not wlak according to the flesh but according to the Spirit"!!!!!!! romans 8:2-4
i remember one patient who was an alcoholic and was in such a place of hopelessness...there weren't words to lift his countenance...but a hope that a simple prayer and a simple "there is always hope" would plant itself somewhere deep inside his brokenness...
i trust that God can and will use me in spite of my failures. and a plead...even today...that He will bring victory and hope into my life in the areas that are presenting themselves as hindrances to the greatest good that the Lord can bring from my life...soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone!) Father, move us to repentance and freedom. thank You...thank You, Jesus
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.". I struggle with the beloved part. Lord, as I walk in the light of your Love, seek to become who you want me to be, may I sacrificially give to others.
ReplyDeleteSo, I've been pondering this reason all day. Sin keeps me focused on me. Period. My heart's desire is to point to the Father - to bring Him glory in my every waking moment. But, as I take my eyes of off Jesus, even for a second, I begin t...o sink in the water as Peter did. But, when I fix my eyes back on Jesus, my focus is restored and I am fulfilling my chief end. The sins that hang on, and routinely infest my heart, can easily discourage and defeat me. Some days, I seem more susceptible than others. But I agree, Stephanie, there is hope. Thanks be to God who has given us the victory over sin and death!! I Corinthians 15:57
ReplyDeleteEphesians 2. I read it in a new way today.
ReplyDelete