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Many years ago I was talking to one of my buddies who was a relatively new believer, when in just shooting the breeze he used a proverbial ’four-letter word’ to describe a problem at work, caught himself, looked embarrassed and apologized and said, “Hey brother, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it that way.”
I surprised myself with my response, because I also was a fairly new believer in Christ, but the Holy Spirit gave me a response well beyond my spiritual maturity.
“Hey man, that’s OK. You know, one thing about being in Christ is that as we become more like Him, the sins in our life are like leaves on a tree in the autumn…they fall off the tree one leaf at a time.”
In this life that is how it works…the sin-leaves of our life will never be completely gone, but they will keep on falling one-by-one as we are obedient in Christ and seek to be conformed to His image (Philippians 3:10). When we do - much like a tree at the end of fall - our sins of the flesh will gradually fall away. However because we are still in a sinful world, these 'sin-leaves' will never be completely gone - much like leaves that stubbornly refuse to fall from a tree after winter sets in.
The good news is there is a new spring coming in heaven when we will all be both free from sin and new leaves of purity will spring forth from us in a vibrance that will last forever! Until then Christian, Let The Sin-Leaves of Your Life FALL!
God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You NotesOnLife.org
Read over 700 other messages like this at NotesOnLife.org/archive
By Dr. Jeanne Sheffield Estrada
Have you noticed that people these days don’t seem to use the word 'SIN' or even recognize that it even exists? The truth of the matter is that Sin Does Exist and the Bible says that sin is any action, feeling, or thought that goes against God’s standards of unrighteous. [ 1 John 3:4; 5:17 ] Sin, quite simply, is simply failing to do what is right.
All of our sins – be they acted out or nurtured secretly in our heart are born out of a belief that by doing the sin will make us happier or make our life easier than obeying God. Nobody sins out of duty, but instead out of SELF.
A good example of this was Adam and Eve. While God told them not to eat from the tree of good and evil, the snake tricked them into believing that “Their eyes would be opened and be as gods, knowing good and evil.” [ Genesis 3:5 ] Satan’s deceitful spin on this tricked Eve into believing that she would be better off if she ate the fruit, and that is exactly what sin is — a deceitful idea that is acted out, but in the end it is never how we’d like it to turn out.
The continuing problem with sin is that one sin usually leads to another. When we are caught in an addicting, habitual sin, we are held captive like a ball and chain in a deceptive belief that it will make us happy, yet it is not only difficult - but destructive - to ourselves, and often times to others. We may even loathe our sin in certain ways, even feel shame over it with a sincere desire to be free, but as long as we allow it we are chained to it.
If that sounds familiar, the secret to cutting that chain is instead realizing that the better promises God has made by following His path and this ALWAYS leads to a better end than “enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season” [ Hebrews 11:25 ]
Is this easy? Honestly, it’s hard because you have shaped your perceptions and behaviors for a long time, and you need to RE-SHAPE your mind into God’s thinking…and this is at the heart of the deep meaning of the word REPENT. To truly repent means to Change One’s Mind. To break free from the chains of sin you have and cut the chain that ties you to old thinking. It cannot be halfway! Either you remain tied or you Cut The Tie.
Friend, unless you become convinced that this is true, your old way of thinking will keep you tied to your sin. Starting today, CHANGE YOUR MIND and “Cut The Chain That Binds You To Sinful Thinking” by “Having the Mind Of Christ.”
God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You