Amidst the Unknown

In his book Seasons of Sorrow, Tim Challies shares meditations on the death of his only son at the age of 20. He comments,

“God is working out his good will, not despite dark days, difficult trials, and broken hearts, but through them. Such circumstances are the raw material he uses to form and shape his good plans, his perfect purposes... The history of God’s work is this world is full of such ‘afterwards.’ Joseph had to be for many years a slave before he could be a ruler and declare to his brothers, ‘God sent me before you to preserve life’ and ‘you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.’ Moses’s mother had to set him afloat on the river and release him to be raised by a foreign princess before she knew her son would lead the great exodus.”

I would add a few details to that: Jacob lived for many years believing that his beloved son Joseph was dead, and only in his old age did he find out that Joseph was alive and well in Egypt. Moses’s mother is not mentioned in Scripture after her baby was weaned and adopted into the royal family. There is no evidence that she was even alive when Moses returned to lead the people out of Egypt. She likely died knowing only that her son had fled the palace.

There was also Job, afflicted in almost every conceivable way, and trying to figure out what God was up to in his life. It appears that God never did answer why it all happened, and only reminded Job that He was still sovereign. In addition, there were many generations of Israelites in the Promised Land awaiting the Messiah and wondering when God was going to fulfill His promises.

Jesus told His disciples, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand” (John 13:7). Eleven of them found out the truth a few days later and were emboldened to preach the gospel to a hostile world. But one died in his despair, not believing that he could ever be forgiven for betraying his Lord.

There is much in this life that we cannot know or understand now. Some of our questions may be answered in short order, and some may not be answered even in eternity. I truly believe that God is working all things together for good for His children, but many times I wish I knew exactly what good He is planning to bring about and what His schedule is. His good purposes will probably look somewhat different in each of us. I don’t know why Tim Challies lost his son at the beginning of a life of faithful ministry, but I am glad to read his thoughts as he has processed this with God at his side. I don’t know what good comes through having a parent with Alzheimer’s (though I’m learning). I don’t know why a teenager gets cancer or a young man rebels. As Challies notes, “Our lives are not our own. They never are. They never were. ‘In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind’” (Job 12:10).

I can only speak for myself, but I am (ever so slowly) learning a few good things that come out of a lifetime of recurring depression. I am more conscious of my weakness and my need for God’s strength to keep carrying me through the valleys. I am more honest and more likely to reach out to others for help and encouragement. I am more faithful in praying for others I know who are struggling in various ways. In these small ways I am becoming more like Christ and, hopefully, contributing to the needs of His Body here on earth. I don’t know what the future holds, and I can’t even begin to fathom the “eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17) that is to come. But from where I am today, would I erase depression from my life story if I could? No. God has used it to make me who I am now and who I will be in the future, and I trust that His plan is best even if I can’t fully understand it.

“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb. 11:13).

© 2024 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

In All Things

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18).

We probably all agree that this verse is far easier said than done. It is counterintuitive and downright hard to practice every day in every circumstance. I was listening to a recent sermon from Immanuel Church in Nashville that mentioned this quote from C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity:

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of— throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself” (IV, 9).

We don’t much mind the repairs we knew we needed, but it’s hard to appreciate the other renovations. It’s particularly difficult when He tears down the little additions we’ve built ourselves. To use Jesus’ imagery from Matthew 7:24-27, we know we need to build our house on the rock, but then we may decide to add a shed hanging off one side, and a vacation cottage on the beach sand. When He comes in to rebuild, instead of being complimentary of our building efforts, He tears them all down. It would be one thing if this happened just once when we first commit our lives to Christ, but it becomes a lifelong renovation project of conforming us to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).

The big question is, can we give thanks even for the things we don’t much like or understand? Sometimes that’s not too hard, when we remember that God is in control and we can trust His plan for our lives. But all too often we (or at least I) start second-guessing His plan and wondering how good it can be if we have to surrender the things that we think will make us happy. It’s also easier with some parts of life than with others. I can think of one arena of my life where the sacrifice of certain relationships, although painful at the time, was and is well worth the benefit of eternal life with Christ and His family. Now I can give thanks for that renovation, but thanksgiving has not always been my first choice.

When the rich young man came running up to Jesus to ask “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus pointed to the one thing the man was unwilling to give up—his riches. It is hard to let go of temporal things for the seeming uncertainty of “treasure in heaven” (Mark 10:21). It’s interesting that the passage immediately goes on to Peter’s statement, “See, we have left everything and followed you” (v. 28). In other words, “Jesus, is it really going to be worth it in the end?” Jesus reassures the disciples that it is worth it, not just for eternity but for this life as well, and He also points out that the greatest cost for many of us is relational, not material.*

If we truly trust His plan, then giving thanks in all circumstances does become a little easier, though still a test of faith in hard times.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1ff).

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*An observation for which I am indebted to Sam Allberry.

© 2022 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Unwanted Blessings

I’ve written before (here) about the frequent use (and misuse) of the word “blessed,” not just among Christians but unbelievers as well. My church is currently working through the beatitudes in Matthew 5, so that has been on my mind. I came across this biblical definition of blessing from Rachel Gilson: “A gift from God; a gift with spiritual meaning and power.” Our problem today is that we automatically associate blessing with health, wealth, relationships, or anything else that makes us feel good. Many Christians have unknowingly adopted a version of the prosperity gospel, but the beatitudes point us in a different direction. What if we rephrased them this way:

“God has gifted the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

God has gifted those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

God has gifted the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

God has gifted those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

God has gifted the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

God has gifted the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

God has gifted the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

God has gifted those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

God has gifted you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

What blessings has God bestowed upon us that we don’t recognize because they are painful and unwanted? Or to put it another way, what events or circumstances have spiritual meaning and power in our lives even if they are difficult and unwelcome? Losses can be blessings in disguise because they force us to look to God. The loss of a job makes us notice God’s provision for us. The loss of health makes us rely on God’s strength. The loss of a loved one makes us long for eternal life with Him. Loss of comfort and security makes us look to God for our comfort.

The things that we tend to call blessings are usually things that make us comfortable and content in this life we have now. But God’s blessings are intended to remind us that this broken and sinful world is not our final home and we have work to be doing while we are still here.

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him” (James 1:12).

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13).

What blessings from God have equipped us to do His work in this world? Have we grown in compassion because of our suffering? Have we grown in holiness as we’ve faced the consequences of sin? Do we desire to share the gospel with others because we know this world can never really satisfy anyone?

Let’s take time to thank God for His blessings—both wanted and unwanted.

“And behold, I [Jesus] am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book” (Rev. 22:7).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Clean Hands and Pure Heart

The following quotes from Lead, by Paul David Tripp, seem all too apropos considering some of the recent news coming from Christian ministries.

“I have seen that when it comes to leaders’ struggle with sin, we tend to make unbiblical assumptions that cause us to be naïve and unprepared for battles that we will face in the life and ministry of leaders in our communities. It is not safe to assume that a seminary graduate is spiritually okay. It’s not safe to conclude that a very gifted leader is where he needs to be in his relationship with Jesus. It’s not necessarily true that a theologically insightful leader is spiritually mature. Ministry effectiveness is not to be confused with cleanness of heart. What you know about the public persona of a leader does not mean you do not need to be concerned about his private life” (181).

“Every leadership community should be clear that giftedness is not the same as spiritual maturity. Biblical literacy is not the same as spiritual maturity. We need to be clear that theological acumen is not the same as spiritual maturity. Ministry success is not the same as spiritual maturity. Popularity is not the same as spiritual maturity. Strategic insight is not the same as spiritual maturity” (196).

Revelations of ongoing, unrepentant sin make you wonder if a celebrity really was a Christian. (God alone knows.) The trust of the church has been betrayed on many occasions by many people.

None of us are completely free from temptation and sin. Jesus was the only person to live a perfect, sinless life. But by the grace of God we should be growing in obedience, humility, and integrity. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray He included, “Forgive us our debts… and lead us not into temptation” (Matt. 6:12-13). Why would He urge such prayers if in fact we are able by our own strength to avoid temptation and live free from sin? We are weak and fallible creatures, constantly in need of God’s power to sanctify us and conform us to the image of His Son.

Martin Luther, in the first sentence of his 95 Theses wrote, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ (Matthew 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Yet how many of us live that out day by day? How often are we blissfully unaware of, or hardened to, our sin?

King David, the “man after God’s own heart,” wrote in several of his psalms:

“Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:13).

“Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You” (Psalm 25:20).

“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me” (Psalm 32:1-4a).

“There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me” (Psalm 38:3-4).

May God, by His grace, reveal our sins and bring conviction and repentance before those sins bury us too deeply in the mire. May our pride be broken before it becomes presumption. May we be quick to turn to Him for the mercy of forgiveness and the cleansing we need.

“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation” (Psalm 24:3-5).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Not My Strength

Although we as Christians should know that we are saved by faith and not by works, we often fall into the trap of trying to pursue sanctification by works. We think that if we just get the right combination of avoiding tempting situations and quoting enough Scripture we’ll be able to keep from sinning. We make our list of rules: don’t watch certain TV shows; don’t look at the magazines lining the checkout aisle; don’t buy ice cream and candy; put Covenant Eyes on the computer; avoid restaurants that serve alcohol; and so on. While those can all be good things, they are limited in their ability to stop the temptations that assail us. As the Apostle Paul wrote:

“If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulation—‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’ (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Col. 2:20-23).

The problem with external rules is that they do nothing to change the heart. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matt. 15:19). When rules and regulations don’t work, we may move on to memorizing Scripture:

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? …So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (Rom. 6:12). “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13).

Scripture memory too is a good thing. However, if you’re like me, you may start thinking “OK, when temptation comes I’ll just quote five verses and I’ll be fine.” That is doomed to fail because you are relying on your own strength again. The same is true of the “power of positive thinking”— “I am dead to sin;” “I am a new creation;” “I can say no to sin.” Even though those things are true, simply adopting them as a new mantra doesn’t automatically stop temptation in its tracks.

Though I have done all of the above, the one thing that was most helpful to me has been to acknowledge to God my complete inadequacy to resist temptation and pray that He would guard me from its presence and power. It didn’t work to wait for temptation to come before trying to remember to pray. Rather, I asked that He would keep me away from sources of temptation. I am still a work in progress. We’re all still works in progress.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13). God is the only One who can answer that prayer. But again, we can’t just mindlessly recite the Lord’s Prayer every day and expect it to make a difference. Prayer is just one small part of a lifestyle of depending on God’s strength and not our own. The fact is, there is no five-step program to overcome sin. We can pursue all kinds of spiritual disciplines and yet still be enslaved to habitual sins. And different things may be helpful to different people.

We will all struggle with sin in varying degrees as long as we live. It is a lifelong process of being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2) and becoming conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). Sanctification is God’s work just as much as justification was His work. But we can trust that “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6b).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

One Thing

It’s curious how times of testing impact individuals differently. Although I’m not thrilled to be working at home for three weeks or more, I feel like I’ll be able to handle it okay. (Of course, this is just the first day, so that may change before it’s over.) Thinking back a couple decades or more, I recall that my habit whenever I was home alone was to have the TV on in the background all the time for company. It didn’t really matter to me what I was seeing or hearing, and I didn’t care how that input was changing the way I thought about things. It took me a long time to realize the negative impact it had on my spiritual life, and even longer to be convicted enough to pray for change. If I’d been stuck at home for a few weeks back then, I shudder to think what I would have done with my time. As God has graciously enabled me to change and to mature as a Christian, my thoughts, desires, and temptations are not what they once were. That’s not to say that I never seek distractions from trials or make sinful choices, but I’m much more likely to seek God instead.

In this time of stress and anxiety, I’m sure that many people are tempted to “self-medicate” with the old patterns of sin they once enjoyed. I keep returning to Ephesians 4:

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds… They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (17-24 ESV).

As this enforced isolation has come during the season of Lent, it’s a good time for all of us to dive deeper into Scripture and prayer and to truly seek God. My prayer for my fellow church members is that this would be a time of purification rather than returning to sin, that God would guard us from temptation, and that He would help us find ways to uphold one another in prayer and with encouraging words. None of us are strong enough to overcome sin by our own power. We can’t sanctify ourselves. We need God’s help.

In the words of Rich Mullins’ song “My One Thing”:

Save me from those things that might distract me
Please take them away and purify my heart
I don’t want to lose the eternal for the things that are passing
‘Cause what will I have when the world is gone
If it isn’t for the love that goes on and on…

May we each find ourselves drawing closer to God during this time. And though we are physically distant from one another, may we be reminded frequently that we are still one body under one Lord.

“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:4-5).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Great Expectations

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV).

I recently noticed a word in that verse that I hadn’t paid attention to before—“easily.” Sin easily entangles us. The Apostle Paul wrote, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19 ESV emphasis added). I know from experience that temptation and sin don’t just miraculously disappear when we reach a certain point in our faith journey. If we do make some progress, we often start patting ourselves on the back—until we trip again and realize we’ve been relying on our own willpower. As Brennan Manning used to say, “God expects more failure of us than we expect from ourselves.”

Jerry Bridges wrote in The Gospel for Real Life:

“Sometimes our obedience is marked more by desire than by performance. So we have to ask ourselves: ‘Is my life characterized by an earnest desire and a sincere effort to obey God in all that He commands? What is my attitude toward God’s Law? Do I find it to be holy, just, and good? And do I delight in it in my inner being even though I find my sinful nature struggling against it?’ (See Romans 7:12, 22-23). Accompanying our sincere desire to obey God will be a heightened sensitivity to our indwelling sin. Often it is our increased awareness of sin that causes us to doubt our salvation or to give Satan an inroad into our minds to suggest that ‘a Christian wouldn’t sin like you do.’ But think about that accusation for a moment. Satan would certainly not suggest such a thought to an unbeliever.”

“We should never be afraid to examine ourselves. But when doubts do arise, the solution is not to try harder to prove to ourselves that we are believers. The solution is to flee to the cross and to the righteousness of Christ, which is our only hope. And then, having looked to Christ alone for our justification, we can look to His Spirit to enable us to deal with those areas of our lives that cause doubt. The work of the Spirit within us is as much a gift of God’s grace as is our justification and adoption as sons”

In one sense, my sin may be small compared to some of the “great sinners” in Scripture who found forgiveness. However, my sin contributed to the reason Jesus had to die on the cross, and I am just as incapable of saving myself as any other person who’s ever lived. If it were not for the cross of Christ, my “small sin” would be grounds for damnation and despair.

“But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-7 ESV).

As this article, “What To Do When You’ve Blown It,” quotes from Sam Allberry, “There is more forgiveness in Jesus than there is failure in us.” Yep, we blow it—repeatedly. But in Christ God offers us forgiveness repeatedly. My sin is not too big or too frequent for His forgiveness. My sanctification is not yet perfected, but neither is my temptation indicative of terminal failure or reason for hopelessness. Martin Luther wrote, “By saying ‘repent,’ our Lord and Master Jesus Christ willed that the whole of the life of believers should be repentance.”

For now we can rest in God’s lavish forgiveness, and one day we will be able to relish His perfected Kingdom, all because of His grace and mercy.

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9 ESV).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Walk with Me

Lately it seems like quotes from Fred Rogers pop up on Facebook every week. Perhaps that’s because there have been some new biographies released in the past couple years. In the past few months I’ve read The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King, as well as an older biography, The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers by Amy Hollingsworth. One comment he made often in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was “I like you just the way you are.” I have a lot of respect for Fred Rogers and his legacy, and I remember watching him when I was little (and not-so-little).

However, I have to wonder about what I call the “Mister Rogers’ mentality” that seems prevalent among many Christians. By that I mean the idea that God loves us just the way we are and does not ask us to change. Some sectors of the church have drifted into a kind of universalism that accepts any kind of lifestyle and refuses to call anything sinful. There are those who cling to John 3:16, “God so loved the world…” and yet ignore the context:

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God… Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (19-21, 36 ESV).

God sent Jesus to proclaim His love and redeem us out of sin, not to leave us in our sinful ways. As someone said (and has been attributed to various people), “God loves us the way we are, but too much to leave us that way.” The Apostle Paul wrote:

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5).

“Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).

God loves us unconditionally, but He also expects us to change. By His grace and mercy we can turn from sin and learn to overcome temptation. This sanctifying process will not be finished in this lifetime, but if we are not seeing any progress over time we should be concerned. That’s one of the main reasons we are to be active members of a church that recognizes its responsibility to the Body of Christ. We need those in our lives who will “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).

We all need people who will remind us that they love us no matter what stupid thing we’ve said or what sinful thing we’ve done. But if they truly love us, they should also be willing to admonish us for the patterns of sin they see in our lives. Some have said that love which is not expressed is not love. I would expand that to say that love which does not confront is not love. You may tell me, “I like you just the way you are,” but I hope there are some who will also say, “I love you too much to not point out this sin.” And ideally those same people will say, “Let me point you to the Savior and walk beside you as we both grow in faith and obedience to Him.” I know a few people like that, do you?

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Blessed?

Many people like to use the hashtags #blessed or #soblessed when something good happens. I have no problem with that; however, a quick browse of those tags on Twitter reveals some alarming and even blasphemous comments. I will no longer assume that a person saying “I’m blessed” is necessarily Christian. I think there is a bigger issue at stake even among Christians who use the word “blessed” on a regular basis. Psalm 67 says, 

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us, Selah, that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations… God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him!” (1-2, 7 ESV).

God doesn’t bless us just to make us happy. He blesses us so that He will be known to be God and people will turn to Him in repentance and faith. And God’s idea of a blessing is often far different from our own. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that the blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted (Matthew 5:3-10). When was the last time you told people you were #blessed that way?

Oftentimes, the greatest blessings of faith come through times of trial, pain, and suffering. It is when we are weakest that we realize our need for God, and His unfailing love is all the blessing we really need. Through suffering our faith can be strengthened, our lives can be purified, and our witness can be clearly seen. The Apostle Paul said, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses” (2 Corinthians 12:9b-10a). It’s been said that no one can claim that their faith grew most when life was easy and free from trials, “for the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:3).

With that in mind, here are a few blessings in my life:

• I am blessed with periods of depression, for then I remember that life isn’t about the pursuit of happiness.
• I am blessed with times of loneliness, for then I see what the Body of Christ is intended to be.
• I am blessed with singleness, for in isolation I learn to turn my attention to God and His Word.
• I am blessed when God convicts me of sin, because I know it is by grace I have been saved and I’m being sanctified.

Through blessings such as these I am learning to hunger and thirst for righteousness and to pursue purity of heart, and one day I’ll receive the final blessing of seeing God’s face and being truly satisfied in Him.

By all means give thanks for the good things in life, but don’t forget the blessings of suffering as well. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Let’s look beyond the blessings of family, friends, homes, and jobs to the greater spiritual blessings that are ours in Christ alone.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:3-4a).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

New Apparel

I recently listened to a podcast from CCEF. They used an interesting analogy for sanctification and growing in Christ. It’s like being given a new set of clothes and having to discard the old, comfy, worn clothes we like. After a while the new clothes become more comfortable, but then we have to change once again. Trusting God is a constant surrender of the old life and learning to walk in the new life. Those who are completely unwilling to change may not actually be Christians. As Sam Allberry has said more than once, “If you think the gospel is something that can be slotted neatly into your life without any change, it’s not the real gospel you’ve got.”

I can look back at different times in my life where I had to give something up and did so willingly. But other times I have delayed and held on to the old clothes as long as possible, like the rich young man in Matthew 19 who was unwilling to let go of his riches to follow Jesus. I wonder if he returned later after reconsidering? I believe God often gives us more than once chance to surrender. Sometimes we have to let go a little at a time. And it’s not just sin that we need to give up. It can also be good things such as certain relationships, the career we think we want, or our dreams of the future.

Sometimes I’m not sure I want to change in a particular area, and other times I realize I have to again surrender something I’ve taken back. I tend to think that I should be farther along in my Christian walk, that I am a disappointment to God and others because I feel stuck here. “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain…” (1 Corinthians 15:10a ESV). It seems like I’ve been wearing this set of clothes for a while now, but God said through the Apostle Paul that His grace toward us is not in vain. He also said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9b). He will accomplish His purposes in us and through us in His own good time. Our reluctance to change is no surprise to Him, so we can’t disappoint Him.

I came across this quote that had been taken out of its original context:

“It [is] impossible… to be converted to Christ while at the same time loving [your] sin. It is true that anybody who comes to Christ will come with sin. In fact, he or she will come precisely because of that sin—that is, to be rid of it and its awful result. But to come to Christ while loving and cherishing sin is totally impossible. It is like an airplane trying to fly in two directions!”

The context in which I found the quote (a Sunday school lesson) might lead one to think that the author is referring to all the areas of sin in a person’s life at the time of conversion, when in fact he was referring to an individual who wanted to knowingly continue one particular sin and yet become a Christian. The fact is that we don’t even know all the areas in which we are holding onto sin even after a lifetime of faith in Christ. If God revealed every sin and forced us to choose before we could come to Him for eternal life, no one would be saved. Jesus told the woman caught in adultery “Neither do I condemn you” before He told her “Go and sin no more.” Some people try to reverse the order and say, “If you forsake all sin, then God won’t condemn you.” God is far more gracious than we even realize. He is gracious enough to reveal our sins and to cultivate our distaste for sin over time.

Tammy Maltby writes in Confessions of a Good Christian Girl:

“Even though I knew my Savior, I kept coming to points in my life when I needed more of Him than I ever thought possible… I learned firsthand that good Christian girls need the grace of Jesus just as much as unbelievers do—and that grace is abundantly available to anyone who is willing to be honest about her pain and cry out for help. But honesty can be a problem, especially for us good Christian girls, because we are so used to thinking of our lives as before-and-after stories… [The] implication is that once a person accepts the Lord, she stops sinning and lays all her brokenness outside the door. The implication is that churches are populated by those who are joyfully and triumphantly healed. And that’s just not true...” (3, 6).

Thankfully, God understands me better than I understand myself, and He extends grace for each change along the way. He knows just how much time and grace is needed to both inspire and enable change. Perhaps someday I’ll look back and realize I have changed without even realizing it. For example, I remember times in school where I played sick so as to avoid public speaking. Now I know that wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as I’d thought at the time. God brought a change in perspective over the course of several years. I trust He can and will do something similar for any and all areas of my life that may be contrary to His perfect plan. His grace is never in vain.

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely... He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

On the Road

I just read this article on The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/lessons-church-recovery-boys/  The author writes:

“One of the great challenges in ministry today is that ‘authenticity’ is more prized than holiness. Recurring struggles and ‘mess’ are more compelling and animating than the prospect of growth and the process of sanctification. Brokenness is simply a more credible currency than righteousness in many churches today, to our shame. Suburban youth pastors feel they must have tattoos and intense testimonies in order to be relatable. But shouldn’t churches and ministers be in the business of making growth, healing, maturity, and wholeness more compelling than sin and brokenness? Can’t righteousness be authentic too? …Pictures of healing are compelling. Growth should be celebrated more than brokenness.”

I understand what he’s saying, but I think he’s overstating the case. Perhaps it’s a matter of perspective. I think most churches struggle to embrace true authenticity. It’s far easier to hide our brokenness and fake our growth. It is true that real growth and healing should be celebrated, but not to the exclusion or shame of those who are still struggling. For most of us, growth comes in small steps that may not really be measurable. It may take years before we realize we’ve made significant change, so it can be hard to celebrate slow growth.

Certainly we want to make “growth, healing, maturity, and wholeness more compelling than sin and brokenness,” but we also need to communicate that it’s okay to not be okay. We are all broken sinners in need of supernatural help to change, and no one has yet arrived at perfection. We are all in process. Some may be further along the path, and they can encourage those of us who come behind them. Every believer is part of the “cloud of witnesses” to what God is doing in our lives and in the lives of those around us (Hebrews 12:1). We need to be authentic so that we can testify to where we’ve come from but also how much further we need to go. While there can be brokenness without sanctification, you can’t have sanctification without acknowledging brokenness.

I’m sure there are some churches where authenticity is “more prized than holiness,” just as there are some churches where sin is embraced rather than crucified, but I think they are comparatively small in number. Any church that values the whole council of God’s Word should be communicating: God loves you just as you are, and He loves you too much to let you stay there. And we as His Body love you in your brokenness, and we will do everything we can to help you grow in healing and holiness, however long it takes.

We’re all in this together. Wherever we’ve started from we should each be learning, growing, and changing by God’s grace and for His glory. Let’s encourage one another and celebrate even the small victories!

“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:12-14 ESV).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Sowing the Eternal

Peter Kreeft’s book Back to Virtue has some good thoughts that are worth mulling over:

“God often withholds from us the grace to avoid a lesser sin because we are in danger of a greater sin. To avoid pride, he sometimes lets us fall into lust, since lust is usually obvious, undisguised, and temporary, while pride is not” (168).

At first glance, this doesn’t seem to make sense. Why would God allow one type of sin in order to keep us from another type? It almost seems to contradict James 1:13-15 (ESV), “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” James makes it clear that sin always begins and ends with self, not God.

So if self is the problem, why would pride be worse than lust? After all, it can be pride that says “I deserve this pleasure” or “I can handle this temptation.” But I think the greater danger is the pride that says “I successfully fought that temptation by myself,” and thereby denies God all the glory. He is less concerned about sins that cause us to cry out to Him for mercy and grace than about sins that make us think we don’t need Him. I can safely say that I don’t want to go back to the days when sin hardened my heart and drew me away from God. With a softer heart each sin hurts more, but it causes me to run to Him and not from Him.

Kreeft quotes Samuel Smiles:

“Sow a thought, reap an act. Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny” (169).

There was a time when certain sins became so habitual that I’m sure it started to change my character, though I didn’t realize it at the time. Disdain for people, hiding my sin, building walls around my heart and my life—these weren’t harmless decisions. And reversing the process had to start with breaking down those walls to let others see that my true character was not what it appeared to be. Only from that place of vulnerability and accountability could I then break down the habits and cease the acts and thoughts underneath (or at least start to make progress against them). “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:8).

Another good quote from Kreeft:

“We are promised the great and inconceivable gift to see God face to face, just as he is... It is what we were made for, our ‘pearl of great price,’ our ‘one thing necessary’. If we only knew, we would eagerly sacrifice anything and everything in the world for this” (171-172).

That reminds me of C.S. Lewis’s comments about us “fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us” (The Weight of Glory). I confess I would like just a glimpse of that infinite, eternal joy so that the things of earth would “grow strangely dim,” but I suppose that would negate the need for faith and hope. If we could see exactly what was coming, we wouldn’t have to trust that God will one day make all our obedience worthwhile.

Recently I have returned to an old practice of praying through the armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-17) before I start my day. It is a reminder to me that I can’t do this alone. I have also found encouragement from Isaiah 41:10:

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

God will strengthen us for the battle if we will keep turning to Him. He will help us and protect us by His grace and for His glory. And when we do fall, as we often will, it is His righteousness that upholds us and not our own failed attempts at righteousness.

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness...” (Isaiah 61:10).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Meditation on Romans 8

Romans 8 has long been one of my favorite sections of the Bible. The following are some thoughts I’ve had this week.

1-4- “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

God does not condemn me because my life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). He does not look on my sin but on Christ’s perfection. I have been set free from the condemnation of my sin, along with its power to trip me up. I don’t have to fulfill the law perfectly because Jesus already did. Condemnation from other people or from myself is out of place and has no ultimate weight.

5-11- “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.”

I confess I often do set my mind on the things of the flesh, but because I have the Holy Spirit, I am not obligated to the flesh. I have a choice where I will set my mind. When I do set my mind on the flesh, the result is fleshly—discontentment, discouragement, lust, pride, envy, etc. But when I set my mind on the things of God, the result is spiritually fruitful—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).

12-13- “But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

The flesh cannot and will not put itself to death. Fighting the desires of the flesh by my own strength will always fail. Only by the transforming power of the Spirit can those fleshly deeds and desires be killed.

14-17- “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

I have been adopted into God’s family, and I have all the rights of the Son of God Himself. I need not fear my heavenly Father, but I can come to Him as a child with my needs, my desires, my weakness, and my failures.

18-21- “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.”

This world is really messed up by sin. My sin, the sins of others against me, broken bodies and minds, death, destruction—one day it will all be cleaned up and made new. Till then I must wait and endure.

22-25- “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

I often get discouraged and impatient with my progress in sanctification. [Would I dare turn that sentence the right way around and say that I am discouraged with God’s progress in my sanctification?!] I keep thinking that I should be farther along, that I shouldn’t have these same struggles, that God expects better of me. When those same old temptations come along, pride tells me to try to rely on myself, while shame tells me I am already a failure just for being tempted. I groan with the seeming futility of this life, but I eagerly long for the day when all temptation, sin, and brokenness will be a thing of the past.

26-27- “The Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Without the intercession of the Spirit and the Son, I don’t know where I would be. I am certain that God has spared me from some moments of temptation that would otherwise have made me fall into sin. He has made a way of escape for me through Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 10:13).

28-30- “For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.”

God’s will is my sanctification, but He has ordained that it will not be completed until the last day (Phil. 1:6). I will one day fully reflect the image of Christ, but until that day I will groan with the weight of this world.

31-34- “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?”

God has already given me all I really need—salvation, forgiveness, the righteousness of Christ, adoption, a secure future, the promise of perfection one day, etc. If I feel I’m lacking something, I’m either mistaken or I’m being impatient about waiting.

35-37- “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

I often don’t feel like a conqueror. I feel weak and susceptible. But Christ has won the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. Even if I lose a battle, the war is not lost—it’s not time to give up, but to recoup to fight another day. The Commander sees what I cannot see—that the end of all battles is very near, and the verdict has already been determined.

38-39- “[Nothing] will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And for that I give thanks.

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Outside In

For the past several days I’ve been thinking about the way God has worked in my life to make me more like Christ. There was a long period of time (probably most of my life) when I thought that my biggest sin problem was behavioral. I thought if I could just master the bad habits I would feel good about my growth in faith (I’m still working on that). But then I began to realize that even if I could avoid the outward behaviors, I still thought about them and desired to do them. As Jesus clearly said, behaviors come from the heart (Matt. 15:19).

So I figured if I could clean up my thoughts and pray for heart change, I would be all set. (I’m still working on that too.) But I’ve also found that some of my thoughts are rooted in wrong beliefs. There are areas where I have chosen my interpretation of Scripture based on what I want it to say and what requires the least amount of change in my life. Just this week I was convicted by my pastor’s sermon that God has complete authority over His creation, and it is not my right to decide what I think Scripture should mean. God’s Word doesn’t talk in terms of “fairness” or “rights” when it comes to stating what is best for us. Sam Allberry made this comment:

“God’s commands are not arbitrary… David says in Psalm 19 ‘The commands of the Lord are radiant.’ His commandments are radiant because He is. And so when we can see His goodness and radiance through what He says, it doesn’t mean we find it easy to live by His ways, but we start to want to.”

God’s Word is only wondrous and radiant to those who are willing to submit to it, and I find that He brings new facets to light only when I’m ready to hear it, believe it, and act on it. When I refuse to submit to the Word, my heart is hardened until some later date when God arranges things (sometimes painfully) such that I have no other options. There have been multiple times when I’ve had to repent and say, “OK, God, I was wrong because I didn’t want to submit to Your Word. I wanted to do things my way and I convinced myself that was okay.” And often those times have come as a result of the Word of God being preached clearly and boldly in a way that I can’t ignore the Spirit’s promptings.

I know that those who argue with God (even unknowingly) will eventually lose the argument. Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32 ESV). This is not a one-time event, but an ongoing experience of abiding, learning, and finding freedom.

Alistair Begg made this comment in a sermon on Daniel 9:

“When God is really at work in this kind of heart, the mature Christian ‘o’er his own shortcomings weeps with loathing’ …The longer I go in my Christian life, the more I’m aware of what a sinner I am… The nature of sin confronts me far more today than what it did before, driving me again and again to the Gospel.”

We often grow up with an idea that behavior is all that matters, and if we can act like good Christians we must actually be good Christians. Some nominal Christians never get beyond this point. As we mature we begin to realize that behavior isn’t everything and that God is concerned about our hearts. He doesn’t just want to change our actions but our thoughts, our beliefs, our priorities, and everything that is contrary to His perfect will. His process of sanctification is unending, and each step leads to another step, and another, and another. I sometimes wonder what the next step is for me, but then decide that it’s better not to know. Surrender comes at the end of a battle, not before it starts. What I do know is that He is the Good Shepherd, and He will take me through each valley to greener pastures if I will just follow Him.

“The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes” (Psalm 19:9 NIV). “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law” (Psalm 119:18 ESV).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. 

Do You Believe?

In his book Life in Christ: Lessons from Our Lord’s Miracles and Parables, Charles Spurgeon has a chapter on Jesus’ encounter with the blind men in Matthew 9. When the men cry out for mercy, Jesus asks them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Spurgeon writes,

“Faith is pointless if you only believe in the Lord’s power over others but declare that you have no confidence in him for yourself. You must believe that he is able to do whatever concerns you; or you are, for all practical purposes, an unbeliever… Each man is accountable for himself. You must be willing to be honest with yourself. Jesus asks each one, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’”

It seems that many Christians tend to trust God for salvation, but then assume that everything else is their own responsibility. I’ve been convicted by this question myself. As I prayed about a particular issue and wondered why God hasn’t intervened as I wish, I found myself confronted by the Word—“Do you really believe that I, the Lord and Creator of the universe, am perfectly capable of dealing with this problem in your life?” After thinking about it, my honest answer is, “I know I should believe that and I want to believe that. Lord, help my unbelief!”

An added challenge to our faith is that God’s answers don’t always look the way we think they should. Rather than leveling the path ahead, He walks with us through the valleys and over the mountains. Rather than removing a difficulty, He uses it to make us depend more on Him.

Spurgeon makes this comment, but I’m not sure I fully agree with him:

“You will wonder where the burden has gone and look around and find that it has vanished, because you have looked to the Crucified One and trusted all your sins to him. The bad habits you’ve been trying to conquer, which have forged fresh chains to bind you, will fall off you like spiders’ webs. If you can trust Jesus to break them and surrender yourself to him to be renewed by him, it will be done and done immediately.”

Sometimes the chains don’t seem to fall away—so is that due to lack of faith, failure to pray, or is there some other lesson to be learned? I do believe that surrender to Christ and seeking His aid is a daily, hourly, and sometimes even moment by moment need. We have an adversary who loves to trip us up. Spurgeon says of our enemy:

“[Satan] has spent thousands of years perfecting his skill to make Christians doubt their faith in Christ, and he understands it well. Never answer him. Refer him to the one who speaks for you. Tell him you have an Advocate on high who will answer him… The best evidence a man can have that he is saved is that he still clings to Christ.”

So when the darkness lingers, when the valley seems too long or the mountain too steep, when the briers start to choke or the chains don’t fall off, cling to Christ. Remember His presence, provision, and protection. Remind yourself that He is able to do all things well (Mark 7:37), and every good and perfect gift comes from Him (James 1:17). Rest in Him.

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Fruitful Growth

A recent issue of Christianity Today included the article “The Science of Sinning Less” which cites various studies on self-control. The author states, “One key recent discovery is that self-control is an exhaustible but buildable resource.” Like a muscle, self-control that is exercised regularly becomes stronger. I’m not sure that’s really a new discovery, but there is truth there. And while that is good to know, it doesn’t address the fact that Scripture talks about self-control not just as self-effort but as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). That led me on a search for a description of biblical self-control and how it should work. Here are some of the quotes I found:

David Mathis wrote,

“True self-control is a gift from above, produced in and through us by the Holy Spirit. Until we own that it is received from outside ourselves, rather than whipped up from within, the effort we give to control our own selves will redound to our praise, rather than God’s… Ultimately, our controlling ourselves is about being controlled by Christ. When ‘the love of Christ controls us’ (2 Corinthians 5:14), when we embrace the truth that he is our sovereign, and God has ‘left nothing outside his control’ (Hebrews 2:8), we can bask in the freedom that we need not muster our own strength to exercise self-control, but we can find strength in the strength of another.”

John Piper put it this way:

“The key to a transformed mind is the steady gaze at the glory of Jesus Christ. For that to happen, we need a double work from the Holy Spirit… We need the Holy Spirit to work from the outside in by putting before us Christ-exalting truth in the gospel, and we need the Holy Spirit to work from the inside out by humbling our hard hearts. Both have to happen.”

One particularly helpful article was written by Ed Welch in The Journal of Biblical Counseling. He wrote:

“[Genuine] self-control… is not the same as relying on yourself and working up the willpower to control yourself. Instead, self-control is a gift of the Holy Spirit, through faith in Jesus Christ. It is a side effect of the fear of the Lord… The real prize is Christ Himself. So, with Jesus in view, we do those things that are important, true, and good, rather than those things that feel urgent but are ungodly… Although our cravings go deep, they are no match for the Spirit of the living God. This, of course, does not mean that the battle is over and we can ‘let go and let God.’ Rather, it means that we are now empowered to engage in the battle. As the Hebrews were promised the land, but had to take it by force, one town at a time, so we are promised the gift of self-control, yet we also must take it by force. Only the grace of God takes self-control out of the realm of hopeless self-reformation into that of great confidence that we can be transformed people.”

For practical application, Welch suggests:

“[The] desire for self-control must be accompanied by a plan… It is one thing to make a resolution; it is something completely different to repent diligently, seek counsel, and, in concert with others, develop a plan that is concrete and Christ-centered. The heart of any plan, of course, must be Jesus Christ. Self-control is like any other feature of wisdom in that it is learned by contemplating a person… Rather than give us twelve steps on which to rely, he gives us a Person to know. As Jesus is known and exalted among us, you will notice that self-control becomes more obvious. The double cure for sin is the foundation for all change. That is, in the gospel, we have been released from both the condemnation and the power of sin.”

As we contemplate Jesus Christ, His soon return, and the surpassing worth of knowing Him, may we find His fruit steadily increasing within our lives.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14 ESV).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.