Created for More!

¹⁵ What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.  ¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification (Romans 6:15-19, ESV).

Sorry guys.  I know it’s been a while since my last post.  I had to take to some time to step back and focus on a few things…  okay a lot of things, (personally and on the home front).  Being brutally honest, it was many things God had been nudging at me for quite some time now.  Things I needed to address: lack of self-discipline/time management in my life, healthier eating, and some household projects and purging that I kept putting off.  Although to me they were just some “bad habits” or "just things to get done", the pile up of so many things un-kept was really starting to wreak havoc in my life.  Truth is it was disobedience to God, and I had to acknowledge it for it was – SIN!    As I began to face these things on the surface level, I also had to acknowledge the fact that underneath the behavior there were some root issues that needed to be addressed as well.

For starters, I had to deal with my procrastination.  Some of the overload was in fact a result of procrastination.  Next the internal struggle of the swinging pendulum in my life between perfectionism and apathy.  It was always one extreme or the other.  The desire to make things perfect and when it didn’t turn out right or wasn’t going the way I wanted, then came the disappointment and feelings of failure which ultimately lead to the apathy/depression.  Whether seeking perfection or falling into apathy, either way it kept me enslaved going from one extreme to the other.  The lawlessness (perfection) leading to more lawlessness (apathy).  It was like running on a gerbil wheel, cycling the same vicious cycle over and over, ultimately keeping me from living in the freedom God had called me to. 

Balance!  That was the word God gave me as He began to take hold of internal swinging pendulum, brought it center, and ultimately to a complete STOP!  It was time to stop!  Stop obeying the sinful thoughts and patterns, and get in agreement with obedience to God on these issues!

Stop procrastinating and do the things God is calling me to do!

Stop trying to make things perfect just get it done, perfect or not!

Stop listening to the lies of the enemy and receive the truth of God.

Stop reverting backward to old patterns and walk in the freedom He has given me!  

Notice how he says obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you are committed.  The first step of obedience is recognizing we are sinners.  We will never be set free from sin or have any righteousness on our own accord.  Only Jesus can free us from being enslaved to sin.  He paid the penalty of our sin on the cross, therefore freeing us from the debt of sin leading to eternal death, eternal wrath.  In return He gave us His righteousness.  Due to our natural limitations, we will never be completely sinless on this side of eternity, however, we do not have to be enslaved from one sinful behavior to another.  He has created us for more! 

As we continue to walk with Him, the more we know Him, naturally our commitment level, our heart’s devotion will desire to be the servants of righteousness He paid the debt for us to be.  Step by step, He frees us from our sin for His sanctification purposes.  The original Greek word for sanctification means holiness.  The general definition of sanctification is the state of proper functioning.  To sanctify someone or something is to be set apart for the use intended by its designer. 

Did you hear that?  To be set apart for the use intended by your designer, by God.  We are created for more!  More than mediocre living, more than struggling from one sin to another, we are created for His purpose, for a holy purpose. 

Prayer:

Lord, we thank You for Your grace and not giving us what we deserve.  Instead, you have set us free from the bondage of sin and releasing us from the punishment.  Lord would you reveal to us any areas we enslaved to lawlessness, any unhealthy patterns that are keeping us from living the sanctified life You created us for!   In Jesus Name, Amen.