3|28|10

Romans 8:5-11

" ⁵Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.⁶The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; ⁷the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. ⁸Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

⁹You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."

Sin, even once we are born again, can often feel like it is somehow stuck to us & can never be shaken off.

In the Bible the word for sin most often used literally means "to miss the mark"- if you imagine a Dart Board- it would be saying that you were not hitting the bulls eye when you aimed for it.

So missing the mark could mean lying, lusting, murder, anger- or it could mean not reading the Bible, not praying, or not following the beckoning of the Holy Spirit.

For me- one sin just keeps rearing its ugly head. It lashes out at me, gnaws at me, and clings to me so forcefully that I felt as though it was impossible to let it go.

It became habitual to a point where me thinking of a life without it seemed impossible- irrational even. I even found myself telling a friend that I just could not be rid of it.

And then those words hit me.

I could not be rid of sin?

I know we always say "hey, I'm not perfect, God understands that I'm a sinner" But the Bible says that we do not have a sinful nature but are controlled by the spirit!

We are not controlled by a SINFUL nature

but by the SPIRIT who gives LIFE.

So if you are struggling with a sin you just cannot be rid of

Whether its anger, lukewarm tendencies, lust, skewed priorities, a deceitful tongue or anything that means you are missing the mark by which God has called you to live by

REMEMBER

you are no longer slaves to sin. It has no hold on you. If you feel like you cannot control the situation, as if it is out of your hands- God is the one who is in control & everything is in HIS hands, which your name is inscribed upon.

I advice everyone to read Romans 8 & Romans in general- what an amazing chapter that begins with the promise of freedom from sin to the inseparable incomparable love of Christ.

As Holy Week begins, remember the sacrifice Christ made for you, that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

He loves you so, so much.