Day 13: Pausing to Catch Our Breath ~ or ~ Where Are You Going With All of This, Heather?

Today I'll be brief-er than usual.  I want to give you a sense of where I'm going with all this "sin stuff."  In the last few posts I've talked about: worry, fear, envy, discontentment, and anger, not terribly fun, but necessary things to talk about.  They're all addressed in the Bible as sins that need to be rooted out of our hearts.  We'll get into some others in coming days: judgmentalism, greed, lust, pride, laziness, etc.  

But the Bible also talks about new fruit growing in our hearts, the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  The good Lord, who gives the Spirit (please read my friend, Kit's, post from yesterday on the Spirit), promises us that with the Spirit at work in us, His fruit will be increasing in our hearts.  When we get glimpses of God's fruit replacing the fruit of the sinful nature in our hearts, we can rejoice, praise, and give thanks, and more so when we're keenly aware of the sin within us that is being replaced.

The Good News of the Gospel is not only escaping the punishment for our sin, but also being drawn more and more into the likeness of Christ.  That leads to things that will be common to all Christians: loving God and their neighbor more.  But it also leads to things that will be particular to you, for God knit you together just as He saw fit and with particular purposes in mind.

Throughout the rest of the month, I'll lead us through several more sins/sin patterns, share about how God can use certain circumstances to mold us, delve a little into the fruit of the Spirit, and wrap up with a little chatter about calling.  Anything specific that you'd like me to address in these contexts?

The launching pad for the month was this quote:

When [God] talks of [Christians] losing theirselves, He only means abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back their personality and boasts (I'm afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His, they will be more themselves than ever.  ~ C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters

And Paul said to the Romans:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I pray that as you're rooted and established in God's love, He strengthens you to abandon the clamour of self-will and increases your desire to see His will.  May the words posted here be of encouragement and assistance to you in the journey.  Our God is able to immeasurably more than we ask or imagine! (Ephesians 3:20)

Have a GOOD day!