Amanda BethSharing the Truths Behind the TRUTH

Mar 4th Monday’s Blog: Sin Series “Tolerating Sin”

This is the third message in my series on sin in the church. Last week, I talked about not slandering our brothers and sisters who are caught in sin. I believe the reason many Christians are in bondage to sin is because we’ve tolerated sin by allowing the world to influence us.

Jesus said, “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:39-40).

We’ve allowed the blind to lead us. We’ve allowed the world to be our teachers. We’ve invited in their morals and viewpoints by listening to their music, and watching their movies, their televisions shows, and their news programs. We’ve invited in their wisdom by learning from their schools, their counselors, and their books. As a result, we’ve carried their viewpoints and morals into our churches, our ministries, our books, our music, and our movies.

“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

Galatians 5:9

God warned us not to conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). To renew something, you take out the old and replace it with the new. We want the new but we’ve also been holding onto the old. We want God’s wisdom but still continue to seek the world’s wisdom.

The Bible says, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? … For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength (1 Corinthians 1:20,25).

I admit it’s not easy to be in this world and not be a part of it. I am just as guilty of allowing the world to influence me. I remember watching a movie with my husband once. When it was over I thought to myself, “What am I doing! I can’t believe I just sat for two hours and let the devil feed me his trash!”

This is the devil’s world (Revelation 12:12). But God hasn’t left us here without help. He’s given us a way to escape the corruption of the world and to stop allowing it to influence us:

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

2 Peter 1:3-4

When my husband was a teenager he was invited to a Christian camp one summer. He wasn’t raised in the church so he hadn’t known much about God at the time. God touched his heart that summer at camp and he accepted Christ as his Savior. My husband said when Jesus came into his heart he instantly had an overwhelming desire to turn away from sin and do good. The reason wasn’t because he saw other Christians doing good. In fact, he was disappointed at the behavior of some of the boys at camp who smuggled in alcohol. My husband wanted to turn away from sin and do good because he was filled with Jesus. But after leaving camp, and not continuing to seek God and learn from Jesus (until years later), my husband’s desire to turn away from sin quickly faded.

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). I used to think this meant “If you love me, then you better obey what I command.” But it really means, “If you love me, you will have the desire and ability to obey what I command.”

When we continue to seek Jesus with all our hearts, He fills us with His love so there’s no room to desire anything other than Him.

Ephesians 3:16-19 explains:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

When my heart begins to desire the world, that’s my warning sign that I am not seeking God with all my heart. When God has our hearts, our desires will be for Him, and we’ll no  longer desire the things of the world.

1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

Heavenly Father,

Jesus prayed: “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified” (John 17:14-19).

We praise You for sending Jesus to rescue us from the corruption of this world caused by sin. Draw our hearts to You, fill us with Your Holy Spirit and renew our minds with Your Word. We praise You for protecting and sanctifying us through Your Word so that we can be a light to this dark world.

In Jesus we pray, Amen!

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*Come back next Monday as the “Sin Series” continues.

*All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted.

*If you’ve never accepted Christ as your Savior, please click on the “SALVATION” tab at the top of the website. Don’t wait another day!

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