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 walk according to the flesh but according
to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the
things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of
the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the
Spirit is life and peace… Romans 8:3-6
Life is about choices and our choices make us who
we are. When we make wrong choices in
life, we often have consequences to pay.
Sometimes the consequences are external and internal, but sometimes they
are only internal. If we run a red
light, we get a ticket. That is an
external consequence. (Hopefully you
have some internal consequence with
this as well.) Sometimes no one else is
aware of our “secret sin”. No other
person is affected by our wrongdoing, no one else is hurt, and no one knows the
difference. So what is the big deal?
The biggest deal of course is that God knows and is
hurting for every wrong choice we make, even if we are the only ones who know
the difference. But, there is someone
else who knows too and that is you. The
weight of guilt can be unbearable when we are participating in something we
know is not right. Nothing feels better
than the release of being free from the shackles of a sinful situation. It is literally like a boulder being lifted
off our shoulders. Also, living with the
knowledge that you have wronged another individual, even if they are unaware,
can be crippling for some. It is like
keeping a secret that is eating away from the inside out. God doesn’t want us to carry around the
weight of our sin when we have asked forgiveness. He also wants us to learn from our mistakes
and not make the same wrong choices over and over again. I don’t like the feeling of hiding something
from those I love the most. That is an
experience I want to live without. That
is what I mean by living with no regrets.
It means not putting myself in the position of feeling bad about my
actions that I know are wrong to begin with.
Situations I should have never gotten into. Once you do that, you may be real careful
never to put yourself in that place again.
Have no secrets, hide nothing, no false fronts. Make it your creed.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in
the strength of His might. Ephesians
6:10
God and God alone can give us the strength to
overcome the strongholds of sin in our lives.
Outside influences, even other Christians, may try to make you believe
that what you are doing is no big deal.
They may try to make you believe that because no one else is hurt, no
wrong is done. Listen to what the Spirit
of God is telling you. You know the
truth about your situation. You know if
you are disobeying God. You know right
from wrong and until you admit it, it will drive you crazy. You are the one that has to live with this
consequence. You are the one that feels
the pain inside of knowing your actions would hurt someone else if they
knew. You are the one that has to live
with the knowledge that you are making the choice to disobey God and His law. You have to make the decision to keep going
or stop. Regardless of what anyone else
tells you, your decision should be based on what you need to do for your own
personal relationship with God. Can you
go on like this? For how long?
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from
you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you
sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:7-8
It is no fun to carry around the burden of sin in
our hearts. You don’t have to. Make the choice to not sin before it
happens. Stand up against the influences
with the strength God gives you. Make
the decision to live with no regrets today.
Scripture
to Claim:
…and then he told me,
My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your
weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on
the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's
strength moving in on my weakness.
2Corinthians 12:9
