We Are Not Defined By Our Sin.

Every one of us is a sinner, not one of us can say we’re perfect and not one is better than another, but God likes order, He wants us to live by His word according to His order. He wants us to be free from sin. He sent His son just for that purpose. Are we meant to celebrate sin? No. Are we meant to condone sin because everyone else is acting a certain way? No. Society is wrong and depraved. The way to live has become so twisted that there is literally no coming back to any Biblical morals, but that doesn’t mean you have to comply with that in your own life. 

Marriages are falling apart, if kids today even get married, they prefer to live together, have their own children out of the sanctity of marriage or have shot gun weddings. No one sees the wrong of it because it’s the new normal. God does not see it as normal. He sees it as sin. 

The divorce rate in this country is the highest it’s ever been. God meant for marriages to be lasting. That’s why it’s so important not to take marriage lightly. Marriage is work, and when vows are said you vow to work at that marriage. 

Does God give allowance for divorce? Absolutely. Abuse, abandonment and your spouse committing adultery. Do people actually divorce for those reasons? Usually not, irreconcilable differences is what is always circled as the reason. Then what happens? Bitterness and chaos happens within the broken family. And does that cycle ever really end after that? 

Could our daily relationships be crumbling because we feel the need to control everything? Self control is something we should strive for but the Bible advises against us trying to control everything but instead we should be putting our trust in God. 

Control comes from fear, or lack of self esteem. Control can be prideful and self serving, and pride is a sin. Control means you have a serious lack of trust in not only yourself, but others and God. 

Sometimes out of someone with such intensive control issues can come a serious aggression issue. God calls us to be humble not aggressive. Out of humbleness comes self control and maturity to handle any situation. Our emotions, actions and the way we respond can be controlled and we can pray for God's help to give us wisdom in self control and to help us to let go and let Him guide us in everything. Let the Holy Spirit take control and see the difference it will make. 

Control usually causes discord between families. Someone always has to control a situation or a person and then a rift happens within the family. But, does God want us to control a situation or a person to the extent that families no longer speak to one another? Absolutely not, He detests it. God calls us to be peace makers not controlling know-it-alls. 

God detests those who sow the seeds of discord. 

James 4:6 God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 

We have to humble ourself not only with God and ourselves but in front of others. 

Proverbs 28:25 “He who boasts about himself and puffs himself up stirs up quarrels.”

Jeremiah 9:23-24 This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord. 

People have become so self absorbed that they forget to look to God first. Bitterness and anger are everywhere because everyone has stopped doing the first works. 

What are the first works? Loving God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Serving Him and others so strongly and consistently that you don’t think about how to serve yourself. Go back to the beginning when you first loved Jesus. 

God sees the bitterness and anger in our hearts, He also sees the things we say and do behind closed doors when we think no one can hear or see. Are the things we are saying glorifying Him? Or are they gossiping and putting others down? That's a sin. God wants us to lift each other up and be one in the body of Christ. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ if we truly believe so why would we want to constantly speak ill of others. 

Spreading idol gossip when you don't really even know if it is true. That's a sin. We should speak only the truth in everything we say. Stand up for what is right and speak up when someone is spreading rumors and gossip. 

Lying is a sin that is not even necessary. If everyone would just strive to tell the truth, the world would be so much better for it, just by doing that one little simple thing. Telling the truth should just come as a natural way of speaking, but it never is, society has made it look like if you're not lying then there's something wrong with you. Lying is the way of life and expected. 

Everyday conversations can't even be trusted because people boast so much you don't even know which way is up. God knows which way is up though, He knows what is true and if what we're speaking is false information. 

Addictions can also cause a great divide between not only us and earthly relationships but also our relationship with God. It doesn't have to be just a drug and alcohol addiction, an addiction is defined as anything we put first in our lives that is our main focus. God tells us not to put any idols before Him or worship any other gods. It could even mean our jobs or our constant need to succeed. One thing I do know, you won't find the happiness you're looking for in any addictions. They only separate you farther from God. 

How many of us still have unforgiveness festering in our hearts? Unforgiveness doesn't hurt the other person we have grudges against, it only hurts ourselves, it causes us to be disconnected to God because if we have unforgiveness towards someone God is unable to forgive us of our sins. The more we let unforgiveness grow the more the bitterness and anger grow and then what? We start to sin more and more because of that blackness in our hearts. This should be a time for forgiveness because the day of Jesus's return is rapidly approaching, we need to recognize the seriousness of unforgiveness and our sins. 

But guess what, we are not defined by our sins. Any of these sins do not have to be our identity. We do not have to be known for our past. We can be redeemed and set free from our sins. We can begin to live a life that is worthy of Him, we won't be sinless but we can certainly sin less. 

Know this though, you will be hated. Hatred comes with living a life that is for Christ. The road is narrow to Him and it will be a rough and bumpy patch of road. Your morals and your Biblical worldview will be pushed back against and you will be name called and cut off from individuals. Keep pushing forward and keep looking up regardless. No one can hurt you because God is on your side. He sees everything and knows when we are punished for living a life worthy of Him and it is His battle and He will fight for us. We just have to stay on the righteous path towards Him. 

Believe that Jesus died and arose again three days later to save us all. By His sacrifice He covers all our sins. We can be forgiven and made new. We can let go of the past and move forward living in God’s order. We just have to be willing and ask. 

God’s order is perfect. He cannot have anyone in front of Him that is blemished with sin. That is why it’s so important to repent and live your life everyday striving to be more like Jesus. 

I John 3:7 Do not let anyone lead you away from the truth. It's the person who acts right is right just as we see it lived out in Jesus who is righteous. 

We can let go of the past and not look at each other’s past mistakes and sinful natures. We can just love. Just like Christ loves us. 

I John 3:18 Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 

Let go of the sin that is holding you back. Let God take control of your life and let Jesus wash you new with His blood. Thank Him today for that sacrifice and start doing the first works again. A great place to start is the Bible. You will learn everything you need to know about how to live a life that serves and honors Him right in those pages. You will get to know God and will see His glorious work from reading it cover to cover and I can't think of a better reason to go read your Bible today. 

And always remember. You have a direct line to Him each and every day. You don’t need a middle man to convey your message to God. You can speak directly to Him and hear His response for yourself. Just open your heart and let Him in and the rest of your life will just fall into place, and it’ll be a happy life so go access your Heaven Line right now and start or renew your relationship with Christ. He's coming soon.