Sin. Well, there’s something we all have in common. Lately, I feel like that’s about the only thing I have in common with people I used to share lots of things with. Though there are varying degrees of sin and varying consequences for those sins, we all sin in some facet. That single fact didn’t used to bother me ~ it is, after all, out of our control. None of us are without it.
Proverbs 20:9
Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin“?
Nope, not me. But do I desire to not sin? I do. It’s come to my attention with the subtlety of blaring sirens that I can help myself in this pursuit. I realize there’s no enormity to this revelation; that it’s actual common sense. But common sense can often be clouded by emotion and pain and guilt and sadness and anger and and and and…….
Here’s what I can do to help myself.
- I can surround myself with believers in every situation. Yes, those people who walk the walk. They make me a better person just being around them.
- I can release all control to God. Sounds easy, right? Not so fast. It’s not easy…but necessary.
- I can live each day without fear. That’s the trepidation that grips your heart when you assess what can happen on any given day. A shift from “it will happen” to “it could happen” will change everything. Apprehension and fear will paralyze growth of any kind.
- Be accountable. No one wants to recount their ugliness to an accountability partner.
This weekend was long in coming, unfortunately. The details are far less important than the revelation on Sunday evening. The revelation is this!
If I want something different, I have to do things differently.
There’s not a lot to love about some of my past but there are people in my past who need a lot of love…and then there is me. I know the things I need and some things need ~ well, elimination.
So good bye to the old ~ we’ve had a long, illustrious history but the chapters have been completed for some time now and no one wanted to shut the book. Most of all, me. It’s well past the time to fondly shelf this novel and move forward and today is baby step #1.