Why Won’t I Let God Take Control?

In review of Romans 6:12-13 it says, “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires …. 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 sin or its desires control you. Instead give yourself completely to God and use your life as an instrument to bring glory to God.

What this means to me:

I should not let sin control the way I live; nor should I give in to sinful desires. Rather, I should give myself completely to God, for at one time I was dead, but now I have a new life. So use my whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God

Today's passages come from the middle of Romans chapter 6 in which Paul tells us how sin's power in our life is broken. So should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more grace? No!. Ok, since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live it it?  Consider that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives.  Within this we are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So we should also consider ourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace.

Every day it seems I am controlled by something. It may be by my own ego or by the expectations of others. I may be controlled by fear or guilt or resentment or bitterness. I may even be controlled by a habit. But I am controlled by something every day.

Freedom comes when I choose what’s going to control me. When I choose Jesus Christ to be in control, when I am mastered by the Master, I can master everything else. If God is not number one in my life, something else is, and it will control me to a negative degree. When Christ is in control of your life, he will always moves me in the right direction.

Romans 6:12-13 says, “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires …. 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).

Here are the steps in choosing to let Christ have control:

Admit that I’ve been trying to play God.

Admit that I can’t change on my own.

Humbly ask God to help me change.

Be honest with someone else about the things that need to change in my life.

Give Jesus Christ total ownership of my life.

Do I really want to change? Am I willing to do these things? Instead of saying, “I’m so tired of trying and failing.” Stop trying and start trusting. God gives me the option to either depend on him or depend on myself. The result is either freedom or frustration.