If you’ve ever had a standoff with a toddler then you know just how deep your humanity runs. It doesn’t take very many days for a newborn to effectively communicate displeasure and by age three or sooner, self will surfaces with a vengeance. No! Followed by foot stomping and back talking is just the beginning. Hitting, kicking, biting, tantrums, back arching or going suddenly limp are incredible indicators that your precious little one has a mind of his or her own and isn’t afraid to show it, but I’m not focusing on the little one, yet untrained in self awareness and self control. I’m talking about you and me.
I won’t call out one of my precious grands for this story. It’s not necessary because I also believe that reciting their successes is one of the best ways to have them repeated. I’m just recounting my own responses to such standoffs. Even if I never raised my voice, even if I stood perfectly still in an effort to master my own emotions, the blood still rushes to my face and I hear my own heartbeat pounding in by ears. My blood pressure has risen noticeably and I’m in fight or flight mode in less time than it takes for for me to say temper tantrum! Me! Not the toddler.
I’ve experienced something similar when answering an annoying sales call or while watching or reading accounts of current events and I know I’m not alone. I’ve seen perfectly rational adults throw off all restraint by giving full vent to their anger, and yes, I agree there is such a thing as righteous indignation such as Jesus expressed when expelling the moneychangers from the temple, but that is not usually what I’ve witnessed.
If you’ve never read all of the Bible under the guidance of God‘s Spirit, or if you’ve never accepted by faith that God’s Word is truth without error, it may be tempting to speak passionately about what you do not know, denying the truth that is God’s Word. But if you have embraced by faith in Jesus God’s Way of reconciliation, then you have been given the mind of Christ and His Spirit will teach you and remind you of the truth of His Word. (I Corinthians 2:16, John 14:26) You will remain keenly aware that you are not the expert. You will remain teachable and open to the working of the Holy Spirit of God who resides in you by faith, and you will have an insatiable appetite for His Word which nourishes you daily as you seek to know Him and to make Him known.
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ.
It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.
This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight.
This is accomplished from start to finish by faith.
As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky.
Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature.
So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks.
And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like.
As a result, their minds became dark and confused.
Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.
And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.
As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.
They traded the truth about God for a lie.
So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise!
Amen.
That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires.
Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.
And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other.
Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.
Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful.
They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.
They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.
They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway.
Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”
Romans 1:16-32 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.1.18-31.NLT
These are God’s Words, not my own. I am pierced by the magnitude of the destruction introduced into this world by self will. My blood pressure rises when I recognize my own sins among those listed and realize further that this is not an exhaustive list. There will be pressure sensitive points in every generation, but remember, they are not new. Temptation has not changed since the garden. The same old lies continue to work on us as well. I am one of the oft criticized or accused “they.” So are you. I think it’s most telling that Paul couples one particular phrase in his divinely inspired litany. “They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.” Old to young, learned to simple, no one is left out. There’s no loophole, no escape clause, no get out of jail free card. There’s only Jesus, and I am still amazed at what He endured for me.
“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.21.NLT
“I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God!
For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness.
I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels.”
Isaiah 61:10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.61.10.NLT
“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.”
Galatians 3:26-27 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.3.26-27.NLT
“Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.”
Romans 13:14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.13.14.NLT
Denying ourselves is part of our calling as disciples of Christ but it is incredibly countercultural and always will be because it is antithetical to our fallen nature. It’s easy to reason that our own generation is worse than all those before us, bemoaning the weight of our temptations, but reading the Bible, Old and New Testaments, will prove true Solomon’s statement that there is nothing new under the sun. Paul’s letters resound with moral conviction because the fledgling church was birthed amid paganism where people could be found worshipping anything from kings to planets or animals by wholly immoral means to ensure a good harvest, peace or fertility. Even a rudimentary knowledge of history proves that we can find a way to justify just about anything.
“We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do.
We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.
We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God.
We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.10.3-5.NLT
“So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.
We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!””
2 Corinthians 5:20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.20.NLT
“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.
For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.
May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.”
Philippians 1:6, 9-11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/php.1.6-11.NLT
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