Victories in our walk with the Lord

There are days when certain sins we struggle with seem so hard to overcome. Some of the things we may struggle with are anger, gossip, worry, and fear. These sins can become a habit in our lives. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 12:1 to put off those sins that so easily entangle us. We don't just stop becoming angry, or stop gossipping, or stop doing those others things that the Bible calls sin. Instead, we replace those bad habits, the bad behavior, with right behavior. This is called the Put Off/Put On principle found in Ephesians 4:17-32. For instance, if we struggle with the sin of lying, we don't just stop lying, but rather replace it with speaking the truth. If our struggle is with anger, we replace that anger with kindness, and patience.

For many years I have struggled with trying to please God rather than man. I would avoid conflict just to appease someone because I didn't want anyone to think badly of me. I wasn't aware that it was an issue of sin in my life until today. While doing the Idols of the Heart bible study, I was confronted by what my life was characterized by. Was I pleasing man or was I pleasing God. The story was about Eli and his sons found in 1 Samuel 2. Eli was more interested in pleasing his sons, than he was with pleasing God. In the Idols of the Heart book, Elyse Fitpatrick says this:

"Honoring God means that the Lord's pleasure and glory come first. It means giving respect and deference to Him and to esteeming Him above the thoughts of those we love. It means that we are willing to suffer disrespect and even persecution in order to respect Him. We can detect the worship of false gods in our hearts when we honor anything above God."

I read that this morning, and had an opportunity to implement it this afternoon when I had to make an unpopular decision. He gave me the grace, and the strength to do what was pleasing to Him. God gets all of the credit because He gave me the power to do the right thing. I don't boast in myself, my boast is in the Lord. It is encouraging to see those victories when they come.

Although it was painful to see my sin, it was also freeing at the same time. To know what I am battling against gives me hope, and gives me the opportunity to work on pleasing the Lord, rather than pleasing man.