What we behold, we become

The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error. (Voltaire)

People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. Blessed are those who fear to do wrong, but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble. (Proverbs 28:13-14)

Voltaire also reminded us that "God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well." How well are we living today? Some will say their life is 'pretty good', others will remark that 'it could be better'. Either way, we still have room for improvement no matter how long we live. We can never 'outlive' doing right any more than we can outlive doing wrong! We need to be honest with ourselves when we don't live up to what God desires of us and confess that we need his help to 'do better'. Mankind has always made haste to get into trouble. What we need is God's help to make haste to move away from sin's pull! 

Concealing our sin gets us nowhere. Confessing it is the beginning of true change, but confession alone is not enough. We need to repent - do a '180' so we no longer are pursuing that sin. A man makes the greatest 'progress' toward righteousness when his eyes are on the one who can make him strong enough to resist the pull of sin. Repentance changes our focus - that '180' actually changes what we are focusing upon. Too many times, our focus remains on the thing that entices us away from God's right-living and then we wonder why we are so easily caught in the snare of sin. What we 'behold' we 'become'. 

Why are we slow to turn from our sin? It is probably because it 'promises' something we secretly desire, and we haven't asked or trusted God to change those desires. If we want to be free of sin, we need to ask for God's help. When he offers that help, we cannot pick and choose what we part of his help we will utilize - we must utilize ALL of it. He gives us the scriptures so we can identify our sin. He provides the Holy Spirit so we can be taught how to resist that sin. He affords us the opportunity of relationship with others who also walk with him so we can have the encouragement of others to live well. Use all of them and we might just see our way onto a new path and away from sin's pull. Just sayin!

Change the outcomes

People who live following their sinful selves think only about what they want. But those who live following the Spirit are thinking about what the Spirit wants them to do. If your thinking is controlled by your sinful self, there is spiritual death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace. (Romans 8:5-6)

Thinking or not thinking - both can present problems we might not want to deal with. If we think upon things that are not honorable or will bring dishonorable actions into our lives, we get the resulting problems associated with those sinful thoughts. If we fail to think before we act, relying only upon what feels good to us at the moment, we will reap the results that will not always be very rewarding or wonderful. Thinking must be controlled - it cannot just be willy-nilly. If we are to live upright lives, we need a 'thinking partner' in this walk. That is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live within us. We need his presence to help us filter out the 'not so good' thoughts and rehearse the ones that lead us into right actions.

One thing I have learned about my own thoughts is to question if what I am about to say or do is based upon what I want, excluding how it may affect others. That is what our passage says - people who live following their sinful selves think ONLY about what THEY want. When I stop long enough to consider how my way of thinking will affect others if I act upon what I am thinking, I often will not take that particular action. Why? It would not honor them, or it would present difficulties within the relationship. There are times when I think one thing but find God prompting me to see things a bit differently than the way I have been looking at those things. Why? God knows if I continue along that way of thinking I will produce actions that will bring less than desirable consequences.

It didn't come naturally to me to begin my day by asking God's Spirit to take control of my thoughts, but once I did, I also found myself asking him to take control of my words and all the actions in my day. Why? Thoughts lead to words and actions - I need his help to make the most of both of those! It isn't hard to ask the Spirit to take the lead in your thought life, but it is a little harder to listen to his leading! It is that age-old issue of knowing what is right, but not always choosing to act upon what you know to be right. As long as I seek his help with the day, I am placing myself in the best possible position to see the outcomes within my day be the best they can be. The same will be true for you. Just sayin!

Wound Up?

I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. (Romans 7:24-25)

Many of us live 'lives of contradiction' - wanting to make right choices, but finding ourselves at the mercy of who knows what making all the wrong ones. If there is one thing I know it is this - the harder we 'try' to live right, the more we find ourselves decisions that are not always right. Why? This walk with Christ isn't meant to be us 'trying' - it is meant to be him empowering us through his Spirit and his Word to make the right decisions. 

If we are constantly making wrong moves, does that mean we haven't really invited Christ into our lives? No, it just means we haven't stopped trying to be the ones to make our lives line up with what scripture teaches. We are still holding onto control - 'trying' is not the same as 'trusting'. The good news is that we are guided into making the right choices the more we 'settle into' this new life with Christ. The more we discover how he speaks to us and what he wants us to do, the more we find our desires changing. Changed desires make it a whole lot easier to change our actions.

I stopped asking God to help me do things right a long time ago. Instead, I ask his to make my desires different. It is like when I attempt to change the way I am eating from a not very healthy lifestyle to a healthier one. At first, I desire all the wrong stuff, but as I rid my house of the wrong stuff, my desires change little by little. When I made the choice to 'be healthier', I needed to make a shift in the way I bought groceries. One action led to another, until I eventually began to consistently make wiser choices. The same is true in our spiritual, emotional, and relational struggles - the actions change little by little.

I think we get ourselves all wound up when we don't see change coming quickly into our lives. We want to pray once, seek answers once, and then see immediate change. The truth of the matter is that spiritual change (the deeper inner struggles we all have with who will be in control in our lives) come slowly. As one principle is learned, we begin to put it into practice in our lives, and that leads to another principle (truth) being learned. No builder erects a building in one fell swoop. It takes planning, preparation, and consistent 'steps'. The same is true in our spiritual lives - plan to live right, prepare to live right, and then allow God to help you take the consistent steps toward right choices. Little by little, line upon line, precept upon precept. That's a biblical thing, you know! Just sayin!