My new challenge

Over the past week and a half, God has really been trying to get me to see some things in a new light. He has reached me through several different sources: a couple sermons, a conversation or two, a book I am reading, through a blog I read, and in prayer. In all these instances over this period, he seems to bring to attention the same thing; my sin, and whether I am living more in the Word or the world.

I have come to realize that I am allowing sin into my life by way of TV, movies, and books that I have been reading. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I have been reading trashy romance novels and watching lots of R or MA rated TV and movies. What I have been reading and watching lately though has language that I do not approve of, may have situations where people are having extramarital sex, or simply showing derogatory or hateful attitudes. I am not saying all these shows and books are bad, but they have content that I really don’t want to have in my life. I don’t want you to think I am condemning those who watch or read these things, because believe me, I love shows like Friends and Revenge, and I don’t want to miss out on the next New York Times Bestseller. I have decided though, that by allowing myself to be exposed to these things, I am becoming desensitized to the sin in them. After all, we all know that ‘Out of the heart, the mouth speaks.’ I am aiming to protect my precious heart from these sources of sin, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, I hope my heart will become ever purer.

One of the blogs that I read fairly often is written by a gentleman who practiced a homosexual lifestyle for years before coming to Christ. After he was saved, he realized that he would continue to struggle with those feeling, but since God did not approve, he was going to do his very best to not act on them and grow closer to God in hopes that the feelings might fade over time. I obviously have no idea what it must be like to have homosexual feelings, but was quite intrigued by Matt’s story. After reading his blog post about that major turn of events in his life and what he has learned from it had left me in awe. I feel assured that with God on our side, we can overcome difficult sin struggles in our lives. I have included an excerpt from one of his latest blogs that I found inspiring for my current situation and what I am trying to overcome.

“The truth is, you are utterly hopeless to defeat the sin in your life… in and of yourself, as am I. There’s not any amount of self control or discipline that you can muster up from within yourself to crush this thing. The only thing, and I mean the only thing, that can change you is the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit…. specifically, the love of God being poured into your heart to such a degree that your desires actually start to change. And by change, I do not mean completely disappear… my same-sex feelings have not totally disappeared. But what I’m saying is that the love of Christ that’s poured into our hearts by the Spirit swallows up all of our other carnal desires, drowning them out and putting them at bay. They may still be present, but the love of Christ is the overwhelming presence inside of our hearts…. the love of Christ controls us, not our sinful natures.” Matt Moore