Serving Christ: Walking in Obedience
Last Friday I left the house to start the day. I made the usual turns. First a right on Highway 64: then a left on Main Street; finally a turn on to Church Street straight for the HBC building. Then it hit me, I was going the wrong way. I had to be in Bolivar for a meeting not in Hornsby. My morning was controlled by habits. This trip was the one I normally took. I am a creature of habit and took the road I always take.
A life of sin is habitual. Sinful behavior is the product of our practice patterns. Bad habits sink into us so the reject God is normal. Becoming like Christ, Christlikeness, spiritual transformation, and walking in obedience to the Lord are all the process of replacing old habits with God pleasing ones.
The Holy Spirit says … that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth (Ephesians 4:22-24).
A changed life is not simply a process of stopping the old stuff. We have to participate in the ministry of replacement. Our normal approach to change is stopping a habit of thinking, feeling, or acting. We may do well for a time; thinking we have licked the problem. But when our will crumbles the old behavior comes back stronger than ever.
Walking in obedience comes through replacing the old behavior by putting on the new mind of Christ. Take steps each day to focus on God's intention for you. Practice kind acts, encouraging words, and focusing your mind on love and grace. Form greater habits of prayer and listen to God through His Word.
Be patient. There is not such thing as instant godliness. To live in a way that different from the old self takes time under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Matt Emerson
Taken from Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden
A life of sin is habitual. Sinful behavior is the product of our practice patterns. Bad habits sink into us so the reject God is normal. Becoming like Christ, Christlikeness, spiritual transformation, and walking in obedience to the Lord are all the process of replacing old habits with God pleasing ones.
The Holy Spirit says … that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth (Ephesians 4:22-24).
A changed life is not simply a process of stopping the old stuff. We have to participate in the ministry of replacement. Our normal approach to change is stopping a habit of thinking, feeling, or acting. We may do well for a time; thinking we have licked the problem. But when our will crumbles the old behavior comes back stronger than ever.
Walking in obedience comes through replacing the old behavior by putting on the new mind of Christ. Take steps each day to focus on God's intention for you. Practice kind acts, encouraging words, and focusing your mind on love and grace. Form greater habits of prayer and listen to God through His Word.
Be patient. There is not such thing as instant godliness. To live in a way that different from the old self takes time under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Matt Emerson
Taken from Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden