It’s Friday…Sin Always Loses

As followers of Christ, if we’re honest, we’ll confess that offering ourselves to Him is often where our battle with sin is lost. We offer ourselves to the entertainment of our culture, the philosophies of our generation, the passion of our flesh, the interest of our intellect, and the amusements of our hearts, and then when they have led us to natural conclusions, we ask God what went wrong. His answer from the very beginning was that we were to have offered ourselves to Him. He will never lead us into sin.

“Offer yourselves to God.”  (Romans 6:13)

We might think that such an offering would completely isolate us from our family, friends, and society. Not true. God won’t take us out of the world – not yet – but He will loosen the grip it has on our heart. If He is first in our affections, everything else will be secondary. And if He has our affections, sin has met its match. A true deep love for God is the ultimate armor against the evil one and its forbidden fruits.

So, it begins with an offering – a “living sacrifice,” as Romans 12:1 tells us. What does that mean? It means getting out of bed every morning with an awareness that we don’t belong to ourselves. As followers of Jesus, we aren’t our own. We have been bought and paid for. Our heart is God’s possession, our body is His temple, our affections are subject to His guidance, and our ambitions are singularly focused on His will. We don’t have plans, we don’t have goals, we don’t have any intentions at all – not until we have given Him the time and the opportunity to inspire them.

We all know that’s an ideal and that we rarely live up to it. But a daily reminder to ourselves won’t hurt. God never intends for us to be void of all feelings; He just means to be the inspiration behind them. In order for that to happen, we have to disavow our own will. Then we have to offer ourselves to Him. Sin has power over us only to the extent we offer ourselves to it. When we offer ourselves to God – really and truly – Sin Always Loses.

Have a victorious weekend. Make it better by worshiping The Lord with those who desire to live their lives as a sacrifice to Him and recognize that it is an honor to do so.

All For Jesus – Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)