"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." (Romans 6:12-14)
So, obviously - sin WILL reign in your lives and we WILL have evil desires. It is a fact of life. Whether we choose to indulge in these desires is a different story.
Why is it that we are subjected to this evil? Why are parts of our life so frustrating - why do we have to fight daily to not obey our flesh and our 'natural' desires? Lindsay and I had this conversation yesterday and seemingly talked ourselves in circles with no definitive answers - but in reality, I guess there are a lot of reasons - most of which, I couldn't tell you...but here is one of the answers a few chapters later in Romans.
"For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious FREEDOM of the children of God." (Romans 8:19-21)
This 'bondage' will allow us to truly experience freedom in Christ. It is to show us what liberation in God is - what grace is - what redemption is - and how much we need Christ. It stinks to be held captive to evil desires (to say the least), but it reveals how much we cannot fight and stand on our own. It kinda 'keeps us in check' if you will.
I am by no means wise, or smart, or Biblically savvy, but this is just something that God showed me as I read this morning, so I thought I'd share. Who knows, maybe I'm way off. Feel free to comment.
Peace.
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1 comment:
i think you're right on babe. it's good to know we can find comfort in scripture. it's good to know that the things that hold us captive the most are the very things that when let go...will allow us to experience freedom in Him. i feel like i've seen that very truth MOST clearly in my life over the past year. and yet, the last year of my life was probably the hardest year.
good thoughts babe, good thoughts!
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