IBS 23 - ROMANS 6:16

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Romans 6:16 

We are always slaves to something. Before coming to Christ I was a slave to shame, to pride, to envy, to bitterness. And so many old masters that made my life unbearable. I didn’t realize I was a slave to all of these, I just new I was angry and bitter and sad. Yet in all of it, I obeyed. When shame would come and take over, I obeyed. There was no fight. I was dying. The slowest most painful death. And when I became a bondservant of Christ, there was life in death. It was no longer a loss of my life, but I gained it all. I was dead to this world and alive in Christ. Yet there was that struggle of not going back. It was habitual. When emotions came it seemed easier to go back to the old masters, but I was no longer comfortable. When we taste and see that He is good how can we go back? So that was my struggle. I was no longer blind to my humanness and Gods perfect love for me even in the midst of that. I learned obedience in the temptation of going back. I had to learn what it meant to go to Him in the midst of trial instead of drowning in self pity or going back. It’s a fight but pressing on is what I’ve been called to. And I can trust that in my unfaithfulness He remains all the more faithful. He doesn’t leave, He isn’t impatient. In Him I lack no good thing. He is a great Master. A good Father. An awesome God. And He loves me enough to correct me, because He knows and understands my lacking. And He makes up for all of it in His perfection. 

Application- I will write God a letter of thanks for all that He delivers me from today. I will share it with Thaila at the end of the day.