Galations 5 - Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark.

God's word says that the acts of the sinful nature are obvious. I beg to differ.

Sure there are some obvious ones, but we never start with those. It starts as something smaller and grows. Here is an example...When I got married I was a size 6. By my 5 year anniversary I was a size 10. Well, you say, that had to have been an obvious change. Sure, if all 20 pounds came running up to my front door and asked to stay the night in my favorite pair of jeans, I would have changed my address. But they didn't. They came a pound at a time, barely noticeable. 1 extra little pound doesn't make that much of a difference. Once 19 of its friends are in the room, it begins to get crowded.

Sin is smart, it has seen the war room at Weight Watchers. It knows your game plan. It comes on slow and soon enough your whole life has been invaded and you are standing there, bound tight (in your old jeans) unable to move effectively for God.

I wish I could say that my sin was always as obvious and detectable as 20 extra pounds. Recently I looked in the mirror and saw my heart and soul bound tight with sin. Sin that I didn't even see coming. Sin that I invited in, 1 pound at a time.

Most noteable of my sin is my self-centeredness. It is sooo all about me. How I look, how I dress, what I say. Did you know that I am the most important person to me? That sounds even uglier in my heart than it looks in writing. It is, however, true. When I got pregnant I got very used to being the center of attention. It was all about Princess Jenn and the baby was secondary. How do I look pregnant? Do I look fat? Are people telling me that I am glowing?

Because most people enjoy indulging pregnant women in discussions that revolve around them, this lasted all 9 months. Then I had the baby. Suddenly it was all about him. Suddenly I was consumed with the well being of another. So after a few months I backlashed. I started working out and buying a lot of new clothes. I was loosing weight and getting a lot of compliments. Mission accomplished, the focus is back on me. When I went back to work I decided I would be the best dressed employee so I have literally spent thousands of dollars on clothes. Nevermind that the clothes didn't make up for the fact that I felt seriously depressed about having to work.

I am not saying that all the while I ignored my beautiful baby or husband. I am just saying my heart was oriented south - towards me. However something happened recently to beging to change that. I went to work one day in an all new outfit from Banana Republic. I was feeling good because I had officially hit my goal weight and the new outfit was uber cute. Guess what? I was a walking grave. Cobwebs might has well have been all over my face because my heart was covered.

You see when I was younger two important things shaped how I felt about my looks.
1. My parents didn't have that much money, so I didn't get new clothes very often.
2. My mom was a stylist so the focus in our family was on outward appearance.

So that day I realized that slowly I had put my faith in me. Not 20 pounds in one day, more like an ounce a month for most of my adult life.

I have learned something valuable from this situation. What happens when you grow up and you reach your goal of physical achievement? NOTHING. It doesn't matter and it is all going to return to the ground from which it came.


This leads me to my conclusion....

In Galations 5 Paul makes what is probably the most obvious statement I have ever heard. In fact, it actually commands the response in your mind, "Well, duh?" So obvious in fact, it might be easy to skip it over and in the past I am sure that I have. But not today and probably not every again.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."

In unison, we all say: "Duh!" Right? Not so much.

Never before have I envisioned the amount of patience that it took Paul to put these words to paper. But when you really think about it, can't you just see him? Seriously people, what are you thinking? He fufilled the law so that you don't have to be a slave to it. Why are you willingly tying your hands behind your back? Why are you binding your spirits with issues of little importance when the real work is being left undone?

God please forgive me for willingly binding my heart with the issue of physical appearence. Forgive me for thinking about it more than I think about you. I want to live in freedom because that is why you sacrificed. You did not die a brutal death so that I could go to my own grave looking like Paris Hilton (no offense Paris, if you're reading). Your thoughts are higher than that, your concerns greater. Lord help me to see from Your view, please remove the make-up and cobwebs and replace it with your grace.