Friday, January 28, 2011

LIVING AS IF YOU WERE DEAD

"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ
Jesus." - Romans 6:11

What are the things that arouse the strongest emotions in you? Perhaps
it is a rude motorist who cuts you off in traffic. Perhaps it is the
anger you feel when you are wrongfully accused. Perhaps it is
frustration that results from not having enough money to meet perceived
needs. When do emotions turn into sin?
Whenever our peace is upset over events and circumstances in life, we
have moved past emotions into sin. Sin says that circumstances of life
now dictate anxiety, worry, fear, or anger. Consider the attributes of a
dead man. He does not get angry when slandered. He does not worry about
the future. He does not fear what can be done to him. Why? Because he is
dead. Nothing can harm a dead man.
Christ said we are to live as if we are dead - dead to the temptation of
responding to stimuli in our life that are designed to stir up the
sinful nature that resides in each of us. We do not have to respond to
that nature; we can consider it dead. Christ said He is enough. When He
is our all in all, nothing can move us. If we are moved, then Christ is
not our all in all.

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