Learning to Not Give Up on Growth

In review of Romans 6:13 it says, “Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.”

Bottom Line:

Don’t let any part of your body become an instrument of sin. Instead give yourselves completely to God, He has paid a great price for you. Rather, become a tool in his hands, one that can be used for his purposes.

What this means to me:

I am to not let any part of my body become an instrument of sin. Instead I should offer up and give myself completely to God, and be used as his tool for good purposes.

When it comes to God answering prayers, there are times when he doesn’t answer them immediately. What I’m learning, is that this can happen for several reasons. The first deals with my seriousness regarding my request. There’s a difference between a desire and a whim. Much like when my daughter was really young, she would ask ”can I have this?” If I answered “no” and she forgot about it, it was probably a just a whim. However, if she kept asking over and over again, it was a desire for her. Likewise, God may not answer my whims. If I don’t care about praying about it more than once, it’s probably just a whim. God is waiting to see if I really mean business.

The second reason is that God is not a vending machine where you put in a prayer and the answer immediately pops out. God doesn’t serve me; I serve him. If God answered every one of my prayers instantly, I would become the most self-centered person on the planet. Much like “Bruce Almighty.” In this movie, Jim Carrey’s character was given the ability to get anything he prayed for instantly. Whatever he asked for, he got it. He basically ruled the world! And as the story turns out, he becomes a pretty terrible person because of it.

Also, I need to keep in mind that things that are going on right now are a result of my actions and decisions over time. They didn’t just get this way automatically. So God may be peeling back the onion, one layer at a time.

If I am to be serious about letting God change my life, I’ve got to hang on and not give up until He blesses me. I believe most people end up missing God’s best because they give up too soon. They give up in the midst of the struggle.

So, I’ll just commit to God changing me; in his time. Growth is a process. It’s not a one-time event. The Bible says in Romans 6:13, “Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God” (NLT).

I’m going to spend time re-defining a vision for what I want my life to be all about.  Then I’ll concentrate on praying each day for God to bring me toward that vision.