Living a Christian life is an uphill battle. Is it worth it? It depends upon how well you know the Savior!

3 When wickedness comes, so does contempt, and with shame comes reproach.

Most of us don’t see what we do as wicked. We have categories of wickedness and we usually stay away from those particular categories. The problem is that wickedness is anything that is not God-led and God-empowered. Oops! That’s MOST of what we think, say and do! Yet, God loves us and has entered us to give us hope: We CAN become like Him more and more; we WILL be like Him in glory!

Continuing:
Chaste- Virtuous, undefiled, stainless, kept.
Thoughts lead to actions. God says for us to guard our hearts.
Thoughts, hearts/feelings, actions–they’re all connected!

There are quite a few areas in which we humans are susceptible to sin: Entitlement, Lust, Pride, Vanity, Impatience, Selfishness, Sloth, Anger, Spite, Rage, Hate, Gluttony, Fear, to name a few. So far, we looked at Entitlement and Lust, Pride, Vanity and Impatience. Today, we cover Selfishness and Sloth.

Selfishness- This is where we live. All of our thoughts are self-centered. We are the center of our universe. The day we received the Holy Spirit into our lives is the day of The Great Invasion. God broke through our selfishness, brought our spirits back to life and filled us with Himself! Yet, our flesh (our sinful nature) still wants to rule our lives. It’s habit. It feels natural. But now, we have His Spirit within us and He has begun the process of transformation: He is shaping us, molding us, carving us, and chiseling us into the image of Christ. All we have to do is be willing–willing to do what?
1. Ask Him what He wants us to think.
2. Ask Him what He wants us to say.
3. Ask Him what He wants us to do.
4. Ask Him all the time, every time.
The biggest two verses in the Bible are Mark 12:30-31, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” In order to obey these commands, we must set aside our own wants and desires and focus on His wants and desires. When we follow Him in what we think, say, and do, we love Him with all our heart, soul and mind, and we do it with all our strength. We begin categorically and then move to the specific. We get up in the morning and give Him our heart, soul, and mind. Then we ask Him to guide us in all we think, say, and do. We remind ourselves of this pledge throughout the day and come back to it whenever we stray, all the while conversing with Jesus and enjoying His Presence, Pleasure, and Power as He enables us to be successful, even if our success is only in identifying selfish areas that need work. It’s a process. He knows it. We know it. Best verse: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20. Let’s live it!

Sloth- Sloth is laziness. It is rooted in selfishness. Shortcuts, unfinished projects, and clutter are all evidence of sloth. Anytime we are about to commit the sin of sloth, there is a split second where we realize what we are about to do. In that split second, two things are happening:
1. Jesus is calling to our attention that we are about to commit sin. He is showing us the better way and calling us to do it.
2. We must decide to heed His voice and do things right or to ignore what we know to be right and do things our way.
Taking the easy road means that we are coasting–when we coast, we are going downhill! “The path of life leads upward for the wise to keep them from going down to the grave.” Proverbs 15:24. Life is going either up or down. Jesus gives this word picture: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14. We have heard these verses before, but have we ever applied them to daily living? Let’s follow Jesus on the narrow road. Let’s stay close to His side and do what He says to do the way He says to do it in the time frame that He gives us. I know it’s hard, but it’s the best thing for us, the best way to do it, and the most pleasing to the Father, which is our highest goal, right?

Blessings on you today as you walk with Jesus learning how not to be lazy and selfish, but to become more like Christ, being pleasing to the Father.

Abba, thank You for working in our lives. We can’t be godly without You. I wish that You would instantly make us perfect, but I know that isn’t Your plan. For some reason, You find it enough to be in us and fellowship with us. Now that sin has been taken care of, it is no longer an issue except in the fellowship department. May we strive to keep our lines of communication with you clear as You continue with the process of sanctification–making us more like Jesus! Amen.