By Pastor Greg
One day a little girl was sitting
and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed
that her mother had several strands of white standing out in contrast to her
brunette hair. She looked at her mother
and inquisitively asked, "Mommy, why are some of your hairs white?" Her mother replied, "Well, every time
you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns
white." The little girl was silent
for a while, and then said, "Poor Grandma. You must have been very, very
hard to raise."
By the way, you should have seen
my father’s hair. “♫Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than
snow…♫”
Don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t a
mean kid, I just had a tendency to get into trouble. I didn’t try
to exasperate my parents; I simply didn’t know you had to pay for the candy at
the drug store. Hey, I was only 6.
It seems I have spent a great deal
of my life trying to do the right
thing, but I keep messing up. And it
gets frustrating from time to time. Do
you know what I’m talking about? Doesn’t
it frustrate you that no matter how hard you try, you end up behaving in a way
that would make God’s hair turn white?
I’ve been on this Christian journey for 36 years; you would think I
would have been able to stop making God unhappy with my behavior. I mean, I’ve read through the Bible more
times than I can remember; I’ve sat through sermons without falling asleep, payed
attention during Sunday school class and during Bible studies. But no matter how hard I try, I end up doing
the very things I know are wrong.
Can anyone else identify with
this? I know a first-century evangelist who
does. The Apostle Paul once wrote, “I don’t really
understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead,
I do what I hate.” He
exclaims, 24 “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this
life that is dominated by sin and death”[1]
(Romans 7:15, 24)?
Paul wrote those words even though
he had given his life to Jesus. He was
one of the first Christians to take the message of Jesus out into the
world. He and his traveling companions
planted churches all across the Roman Empire.
He healed the sick, cast out demons, wrote most of the books found in
your Bible’s New Testament. And yet he
confessed to struggling with sin. Is
there any hope for sinful people like myself?
If dutiful obedience to Christian teachings and active participation in
Christian gatherings do not overcome sin in our life, then what will? Paul’s answer is in Jesus Christ the Lord.
Now, most Christians understand
that, on the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for their sin. That moment of salvation – being saved from
the penalty of sin – is the beginning of a Christian journey. But Paul isn’t talking about that moment; he is speaking about trying
to live as a Christian in this world without stumbling or falling away; to
overcome sin’s power. Where do we turn when we fail to be obedient
to the teachings of God? The answer is
still in Jesus Christ the Lord.
In a letter written to another
church, Paul says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a
good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus[2]” (Philippians 1:6). Notice that Paul stresses that He will perfect it. God
will bring about the necessary transformation.
He will complete it; we will
not.
This is where the faithfulness of
God becomes evident. He knew that, on
our own, we would not be able to overcome our sinful nature nor have the
strength of will to resist the temptations of a sinful world. So, in an act of amazing grace, God pours His
Spirit into everyone who calls Jesus their Savior. God gives us what we need to be transformed. He
is the one who works in you to bring you to perfection; to completion. He will overcome sin’s power; we will not.
I remember a situation where I was
deeply offended by the actions of another person. For two days I replayed the event over and
over in my mind. I talked to others
about how I had been wronged; they joined me in my rant because they too had
been wronged. And then, one evening as I
was mulling this over in my mind, the Spirit gently spoke and said, “How is
your attitude honoring God. Are you not
to pray for this person?” And in that
moment I realized that without the presence of the Spirit within me, my
attitude would never have been questioned; I would have continued to foster
anger and hatred for this person. But
because God was at work in me (through His Holy Spirit), I reached out to make
amends. And it occurred to me that it
was God who was at work in me. Even
though I had attended countless seminars and retreats, my heart fell into
hatred all too easily. God was working
to help me overcome sin’s power in my life.
Sometimes I think we need to be
reminded of this. Sometimes I think we
forget that “Greater
is He who is in you than he who is in the world”[3] (1
John 4:4). And maybe I end up stumbling
and failing as a Christian because I tend to rely on myself a bit too
much. Maybe I try to resist sin and evil
in my own strength rather than
learning to turn to the Lord. Maybe I
struggle to love my enemies because I have not allowed the Holy Spirit to guide
and direct my heart. Maybe I worry about
tomorrow because I have not learned to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness”[4]
(Matthew 6:33). Maybe I am so focused on
right living that I have forgotten to
rightly surrender to the Spirit’s
guiding and directing of my heart. Maybe
you and I have forgotten that He who
began a good work in us will bring it to completion.
Through Jesus, we have been set
free from sin’s penalty; because of
the Holy Spirit, we have been set free from sin’s power. Of course, Paul
reminds us here in Philippians that one day we will be freed from sins presence, but until that day – the Day
of Christ Jesus – we must learn to rely on the Spirit’s power within us. This is one
of the reasons God has given us His Spirit; He equips us to overcome the power
of sin and darkness in this world, and to live a life that bring glory and
honor to His name.
[1]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living
Translation (Ro 7:15, 24). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale
House Publishers.
[2]
New American Standard Bible:
1995 update. (1995). (Php 1:6). La Habra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation.
[3]
New American Standard Bible:
1995 update. (1995). (1 Jn 4:4). La Habra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation.
[4]
New American Standard Bible:
1995 update. (1995). (Mt 6:33). La Habra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation.
