When I first came to faith in Christ, I heard that Jesus promised to change those who believe in Him for the better.
Verses like, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion(K) until the day of Christ Jesus.” were cited, and so I waited with great expectation.
Do you know what happened?
Nothing.
Oh, wait. I should correct myself. Something did happen. I started to become more and more aware of my sinfulness. It felt lousy. It made me feel like I was the biggest sinner in God’s whole kingdom. I ended up feeling horrible about myself. To make matters worse, every time I tried to stop some of my habitual sins, I failed. What did I do? I started to pray about my sinful nature.
Do you know what happened?
Nothing.
This went on for quite a while. For years. Still, the only thing that was happening with respect to my sin was that I continued to be more and more aware of it. I hated it more. I prayed more. I tried harder to stop doing it. I failed and failed and failed. I started to conclude that God’s promise wasn’t for me. I even entertained that He had broken His promise, or that it wasn’t true at all.
Then, over time, I started to experience more and more victory over my sinful nature. I also became convinced that this was from God, since all of my intense efforts to stop sinning in the same old ways had failed miserably. Eventually, I was freed from my habitual sins. It was funny how it happened, because sins that I used to love to commit, I started to hate. Over time, I came to agree with God more and more about what was good and what was bad. This turned into me just wanting to live as God described in the Bible, because it seemed best. Finally, it became about wanting my life to glorify Christ. I have to say now that as much as I personally would not have chosen to go through those years of mental and spiritual anguish over my sin, God used them to show me His holiness, and that although I was utterly weak and without hope against my sin, He was (and is …) mighty to save.
I hope you can related to what I have shared today, and that you are at the point where more days than not, you are living victoriously against sin. If not, I have a message for you. Don’t lose hope. Don’t think that God won’t work in you to make you more and more like Jesus Christ every day. You may not see it sometimes. Sometimes you may feel like you are in a spiritual drought that is lasting for years. Don’t worry. He is working. Hang in there. Keep trusting. Keep praying. Keep emptying yourself and filling up on Christ. He’s got you, and He won’t let you go.
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” – Romans 8:29
For Jesus,
Rob