What we do comes from what we believe about ourselves.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, -Romans 3:23
For the wages of sin is death -Romans 6:23
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. -1 Corinthians 6:9-10
If there is one thing Satan loves is when we read passages like these... He loves when we condemn ourselves. He loves when he can whisper those reminders that we are all sinners, unworthy, fallen short, dead, evil beings... He wants us to recall the times that we were drowning in our sin.
Satan loves calling people by their sin.
(And we do too...
...unless it's OUR sin.)
The thing is, God doesn't call us these things anymore. He doesn't call us by our sin.
He calls us by our name.
We must believe that we are loved by God.
Loved.
Just. As. We. Are.
The Bible says that WHILE we WERE still yet sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
I love that word WERE.
It's a past tense word.
It is used to describe something that once was.
There's another one, WAS.
Past tense.
Let's finish those verses we looked at earlier... Because the thing is... God never leaves us in our sinful, separated state. He won't relent.
His love knows no bounds.
He looks down and sees HIS Creation tarnished by something he came to defeat.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 6:23
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. -Romans 6:17-18
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. -1 Corinthians 6:9-11
THAT'S US!
We WERE those things... but no longer!
Do we believe, honestly believe we have been bought? We have been washed, sanctified, justified, fixed, redeemed... Do we believe we are Loved of God?
Because that changes everything.
We do what we believe we are.
If we believe we are still sinners, we will continue to struggle with sin.
If we believe we are loved and freed... sin loses it's power and grasp upon us.
If you are in Christ, You are not a sinner.
If you are in Christ, You are a redeemed child of God... who occasionally sins.
That mindset makes all the difference.
Your heavenly Father is calling you by name... Are you listening?
Be free.
Believe you are loved.
Because you are.
What we do, flows from who we believe we are.
Loved people, love people.
Loved people, love the God that loves them.
Loved people, change the world.
Your identity is not in your sin, it is in your savior.
And we have a mighty, mighty, wonderful, loving Savior...
Who has room for you too.
Your sin is not too big for him.
Your identity is not too tarnished that he can't change it.
His love moves mountains, shakes the earth, raises the dead... His love washes over us and changes us.
It's changing me... and it can change you too.
Be free, my friend... God knows your name.
“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, "Mine!” -Abraham Kuyper
