I mentioned earlier that my first year of faith
was increasingly discouraging, and my second year was increasingly
exciting. My third year began to feel like a combination of challenges and blessings.
I experienced blessing as I grew in my understanding of
God’s love for me and His desire to use me to show His love to
others. These blessings prompted me to spend more time at church,
which helped me develop a new community of friends and family. My
church family was encouraging, compassionate, and helped me live in a
way that honored God. I felt good when I honored God, but I felt
ashamed and embarrassed when I didn't. Personally, I found it much
harder to live in a way that honored God when I wasn't at church, and
therefore, was challenged in my faith during those times.
I was usually at work
when I wasn't at church, and during that time I worked as a sales
representative for a large insurance company. I was rewarded for my
sales and wanted to make money, so I did whatever I could to sell the
insurance products. This usually resulted in deceiving and
mistreating my customers, and eventually I began to feel convicted
during my sales calls. I knew my actions were wrong, and felt like a
hypocrite.
I was kind and
encouraging when I was at church, but I was deceitful and
confrontational when I was at work. This conviction continued to grow
inside my heart, until it burst out one day as a customer refused to
buy my product.
After
the customer told me they didn't want my product, I slammed the
phone down and started yelling how stupid and ignorant they were.
That’s when a coworker told me I had an anger problem, and I began
to realize that I needed to make a change. My lifestyle was
offensive to God, and I realized that it hurt other people as well.
God helped me understand that I was being greedy, which meant that I
was more concerned with money than I was with loving God and other
people.
Day
1
Read the reasons for Christian
obedience in Ephesians 5:1-9 (NLT):
Imitate
God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear
children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of
Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a
pleasing aroma to God.
Let
there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such
sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish
talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be
thankfulness to God. You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or
greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a
greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
Don’t
be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God
will fall on all who disobey him. Don’t participate in the things
these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you
have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light
within you produces only what is good and right and true.
Answer the following questions:
- Describe the lifestyle that Christians should strive to live.
- What reasons are given for avoiding sinful lifestyles?
- Make a list of thing you are grateful for experiencing.
- Spend time asking God to reveal the immorality, impurity and greed in your life, and then ask Him to help you remove it.
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