However, as I was making supper tonight, the songs popped into my head again and I started to think more on what the songs pointed out in my life. Some of the lyrics say, "Don't judge me yet/ There's an unfinished part/ But I'll be perfect just according to His plan/ Fashioned by the Master's loving hand." As a Christian, I know that I am called to be so full of Christ that he spills over into every aspect of my life..... but I'm not there yet. There are countless areas in my life that aren't yet in a place that is fully glorifying to God. It is easy for me to be discouraged because I am not a completely perfectly mature Christian. When I dwell on that fact or compare myself to others, it's so easy to give up on fulfilling that standard of perfection that is asked of me. Yet instead of throwing in the towel and walking away from my faith, I need to take those times of discouragement and hand them over to God. When we have reached our limit it's time to take a step back and look into the Bible for a reminder of who we are, what we came from, and where we are going.
Over the last couple months my Pastor had been preaching out of the book of Ephesians. I decided to start there and see what I could find about sanctification. {Sanctification is a fancy word for the process of becoming more like Christ.} The second chapter in Ephesians talks a lot about how we were before & after salvation. You can read the whole chapter here, but I'm just going to write using the first 10 verses. One of the things that really stood out to me during Pastor Chuck's message and then again in my small group discussion was the contrast between verses 1-3 & verses 4-10.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. (Eph 2:1-3 HCSB)
The first three verses remind us of where we were before Christ. Basically, before we were saved, we lived just like everyone else did. There was no higher standard that we cared to hold ourselves too. Galatians 5:16-20 paints a pretty clear picture of what we do when we are just following our own inclinations.
I say then, {Paul speaking} walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires or the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don't do what you want. But if your are lead by the Spirit, you are not under the law. {Socially acceptable moral code of the Jews} Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance-- as I told you before-- that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Both of these sections of verses can seem pretty daunting. Especially when I look at my life and realize how often I have failed and let how I feel in the moment take over how I respond to my life. That being said, Ephesians 2 doesn't stop at the third verse. Galatians 5 isn't a guilt trip for us to go back to again and again and remind ourselves of how horrible we truly were before Christ. Two words shine through all that gloom and show us what has been done for us and to us.
BUT GOD
These verses just make my heart sing! No matter what I've done, how I've failed, or what I'm struggling with God has already raised me up through his grace and kindness to be a Christian. He's given me new desires and made me to do good works. Galatians 5:22-25, the fruit of the Spirit, lays out what an outflowing of Christ in our lives looks like.
Don't let looking at the comparisons of these verses get you caught in a mind loop of, "I'm better than I was, but I'll never be good enough." Paul addresses that too, and gives us some great words to challenge ourselves with.
Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. (Phil3:12-14)
Paul was an amazing missionary, a man of God, and someone that many people look up to as a prime example of Christianity. Yet he still says, "I'm not a fully mature Christian. I'm still reaching forward a pursuing the goal of become Christ-like." I don't know about you, but when I try an make a list of almost perfect people that I know of, Paul ranks up in there pretty high.
I think Joyce Meyer states it pretty aptly. "I may not be where I want to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be." By all means remember where you have come from, my friend. Don't let it weigh you down, though. Remember where you are headed, that your goal is to become more and more like Christ each day, and "...that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil 1:6)
