Mastering Over Yourself

The sermon at church yesterday was based around what Paul had to say to the Roman Christians of his day. I’m not going to quote it because the way it’s worded just might confuse more than anything, lol, but you can find it in Romans 7:15-20. Basically he’s saying that even though we’re new creatures, born again in Christ we still keep sinning. He was questioning himself, saying he WANTS to do good but often times he does what he knows is wrong, then feels guilty about it. Can you relate? Me, too!

I’ve heard preaching on this many times but this time the pastor put it in a way that some of us rebels may find quite useful. He said it’s like sin is asking your permission to take over control of you and you allow it to have its way. For example, before you curse someone out, it would be like sin asking permission to use your mouth and you say, sure. Or, you know you shouldn’t dwell on those negative thoughts but sin asks to borrow your mind and you bow down and let it be your boss. And you do it even though you know you’re going to feel bad afterward, guilty, condemned.

The good news is that you do have the power to overcome this (with God’s help, of course). You can grant permission to the wrong choice… or not. I’m not suggesting that it’s going to be easy but I am saying that you do have the physical ability to deny this voluntary enslavement. You can say, NO. You can choose to think on positive thoughts, switch to water before you become drunk, grilled chicken instead of fried, truth instead of lying.

Here’s a light at the end of the tunnel fact, even though it might be difficult at first – the more you choose wisely the more it becomes your norm. Anyone who’s ever quit smoking or gotten over an ex or started an exercise regimen knows that repetition is the key. The more you do it (or don’t do it), the easier it becomes. When you start a new job there’s brand new information that can seem daunting, but once you do it over and over enough times it becomes second-nature to you.

Today, I want to encourage you to start looking at your wrong desires/habits/weaknesses as unwelcomed intruders that only mean you harm. You wouldn’t invite robbers into your home to steal and destroy it so why invite the bad choices to steal your joy and destroy your peace?

What are you really clinging to anyway? Allowing yourself to get drunk and cost you a DUI or a relationship or at the very least, feeling sick the next day. Allowing yourself to have sex with someone you barely know and now you may have a disease you can’t get rid of or feel disgusted with yourself. Allowing yourself to yell at someone so you feel vindicated, until you realize it only made you look immature and childish. Allowing yourself to eat or drink something you know is only going to make you feel fat and guilty. Allowing yourself to curse all the time so you appear uneducated and ignorant, like you’re not capable of contributing more than that to a conversation.

Don’t keep giving the wrong desires of your flesh permission to control you. Turn your areas of weakness over to God and ask for His help in replacing the wrong choices with better judgment. If you will commit to this I believe and declare that you will triumph over these temptations and be able to become all that God created you to be and take hold of all that He’s lined up for you to have!