November 10, 2009

I guess, I forgot.

Posted in Uncategorized at 12:41 pm by rachelelizabeth

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ… – Philippians 1:27

Somehow, amidst the chaotic bliss of wifedom, motherhood, pregnancy, and dishes, I got waylaid. I began thinking of personal holiness only in terms of what I listened to, watched, and read.

My sins of laziness, cheerlessness, and selfishness didn’t seem to interfere with my care in these other areas, and I thought I was doing, well, okay. Then, the Lord graciously intervened in a few forms.

It is shocking to me how I cannot see sin where it is plainly to be seen.  Anything can be justified under the auspice of logic. Instead of reasoning from scripture and the cross, I was reasoning from my own limited, emotional, hormonal (did I mention pregnancy???) mind. How terrible a pattern this has become! J.C. Ryle aptly remarked,

…men try to cheat themselves into the belief that sin is not quite so sinful as God says it is, and that they are not so bad as they really are.

I have been reminded that I can honor the Lord first in my thoughts, words and actions. These areas are woefully untended in my own life. Thankfully, there is an antidote! Once again, Bishop Ryle in his work Holiness encourages me,

We must sit down humbly in the presence of God, look the whole subject in the face, examine clearly what the Lord Jesus calls sin, and what the Lord Jesus calls “doing His will.”…Once let us see that sin is far viler, and far nearer to us, and sticks more closely to us than we supposed, and we shall be led, I trust and believe, to get nearer to Christ. Once drawn nearer to Christ, we shall drink more deeply out of his fulness, and learn more thoroughly to “live the life of faith” in Him…

I trust that the Lord, through his Holy Spirit will continue to show me my own sin in my daily actions and attitudes.

1 Comment »

  1. Kari Watson said,

    November 12, 2009 at 11:19 am

    …how you speak for me as well. I so often find that not far hidden under my guise of holy living is a pot of simmering sin. In fact, I confronted this very thing this morning before I read your blog. Thank you for the encouragement, dear friend.

    Reply

Leave a comment