Our pastor is preaching his way through the book of Ephesians. After months of preaching on the indicatives, he is now in the part of the book where Paul's writing is full of imperatives. Yesterday he preached on Ephesians 4:20-24 and he summed up putting off sin like this:
1. Stop it! (He referenced a video by this title - very funny and maybe I'll include it on my blog sometime). Of course this isn't enough, but it is the start.
2. Renew your mind - learn all you can about what the Bible has to say about this particular sin, what God thinks about it, how others throughout the Bible dealt with it, how it affected people in the Bible, etc. This should be an ongoing study/search in your daily Bible reading as you continue to stop sinning in this area and strive for victory.
3. Replace your sinful actions with godly actions. For example, if you struggle with envy then make it a point to thank God for what you have.
Victory may not come overnight, but over the course of time you should see victory over your particular sin(s). My pastor didn't quote this, but the process of sanctification always makes me think about 2 Corinthians 2:14: But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.
I certainly cannot do his sermon justice, so forgive my attempt at summarizing it, but I hope you can be encouraged as I was.
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3 comments:
I was Anna. Thanks! We finally have internet again after a few days without it. We had it for 4 minutes one day and were able to place a call to Andrew's parents but then it went out again. ;-)
I'm glad to hear you have internet again. We miss you so much and are praying for you guys. Have you been able to go on another visiting trip?
We were only able to go on 2 trips and now we're full swing into the quarter. Andrew teaches Bible Survey 3rd period (to 1st year students) and I teach 4th period (2nd and 3rd year students). Its a little difficult cause there are 21 in the class, so a little different dynamics from last year. I'm also preparing a SS lesson for tomorrow for the ladies. A little nervous and feeling the need for prayer. Love,
Aimee
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