And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. — 2 Timothy 2:24-26
There is a great partnership here, between the Lord and His people. Our job is to break the way of righteousness down into little steps, small choices. God’s work is to grant repentance. And what is repentance? It is a change of mind, and change of belief.
For example, if I believe that I am shameful, then I will make choices in accordance with that belief. I will make choices that distance me from God. For example, I might figure that my life is a mess anyway, so why not abuse drugs or commit immorality?
Enter the well-meaning Christian. "Repent!" he cries. And what he means is: "Make different choices and cry a lot while you are making the change."
On the surface, that sounds very spiritual. No one wants to be soft on sin. No one wants to peddle easy believe-ism.
But the Lord’s servant is always on the lookout for the small choice that gives God room to change those underlying beliefs. He asks gentle questions. "Have you considered the possibility that the Lord might care about you?" "Would you be willing to hear what Jesus might have to say to you about who you really are or about what you mean to Him?"
Sin will go away as Jesus transforms a life. None of us has the ability to take it away from ourselves or from anybody else. That prerogative is reserved for the Lamb of God. All we do is find the little choices that open the doors to let Jesus in.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
Dwight Clough is the author of four Christian books and is an active member of Lake City Church in Madison. This devotional is also available via email and you may review the archives back to 2002. To contact Dwight or Kim, use their contact form. You may also support their ministry.