October 20, 2023

Romans 6:17-23 (HCSB)
17 But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were transferred to, 18 and having been liberated from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 I am using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to moral impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness. 21 So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the end is eternal life! 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Christine Greiner
God gave us everything to be used for His glory. In a fallen world, we have taken what He gave us as a gift and turned it into a means for sinful living. Most sinful behavior can be categorized into 1 of 4 areas -approval, power or influence, control or pleasure. God gave us these to experience Him in our lives. When they become the central part of our lives, we are focused on them instead of God. We spiral into sinful behaviors to fulfill them more and more and they steer us away from God’s will. BUT GOD can take our natural desires and use them for His glory! He gave us them and has a purpose. Will we use them for sinful purposes or will we use them to walk in righteousness?