Have you ever been bullied? I have and it is not a very pleasant position to be in. Bullies cause you to be afraid and cower in fear of what may happen to you. Being bullied by sin is our problem as Christians.
Why have I not seen this before? Sin is a bully! Sin takes advantage of our weakness and tries to bully us, and put us in condemnation and shame. We are afraid to face our God, our Father, and so we hide in shame. We become self conscious instead of God conscious, and this only makes us weaker. Read 1st John and see how to prevent this from happening.
How are we to be able to understand how not to be bullied by sin? Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 15:34, that we are to awake to righteousness. In other words to throw off the grogginess of sleep, and to put some cold water on our face, and wake up to what the Word of God says.
Jesus has once and for all time dealt with the sin problem at the Cross (Romans 8:2). So are we going to allow sin to snare and entrap us (2nd Timothy 2:26)? Are we always going to allow it to bully us? I want to use an example from my own life many years ago. I was raised to be a pacifist by my mother. But my grandfather would say to me, if someone hits you or bullies you, all you have to do is sneak up on him when he is not expecting you too, and hit him with a brick. He will leave you alone after that. But my mother would always say, “oh daddy, don’t tell him that”. As you probably know from my opening sentence that my mother won out, and I was not allowed to fight. This affected my childhood greatly, especially during my junior high and high school years. Not much fun to go to school and be afraid and picked on. My point is that we as Christians have to stand our ground, and fight back with the Word of God, and watch the bully turn and run away.
Jesus had many opportunities to sin, but He met each challenge with the Word of God. He used it as a sword, and cut the enemy off each and every time. We can do the same. We have the Word of God available to us in ways Jesus never had. He did not carry around a Bible, or a smart phone, or any of the study aids we as modern Christians have. The Word of God is our lifeline, and our manual to a life of victory on this earth as children of God.The new birth (Acts 16:30-31, Romans 10:9-10) puts us in Gods care, but we have to allow the Holy Spirit to change us by reading Gods Word daily, and we will be changed.
When we fall or sin, we have the tendency to run away from God. Don’t run from God, run to Him with your sin, and confess it, and be forgiven (1st John 1:9). Forgiveness is a free gift, but we have to receive it, sometimes by faith.
God made us so He could have fellowship with us. Adam had it, but he gave it away. Jesus got it back and has given it to each of us. True fellowship and worship, is walking and talking with God on a daily basis. This is what the Father-Child relationship is all about.
When I was a young father,I did not take enough time for my children. I learned later in life that my daughter only wanted to please me, her daddy. I did not realize the gift she was trying to give me. I was very foolish and selfish. Those days are long gone, but she still tries to have her daddy, happy time by phone at least once a month. This makes this daddy, very happy. Thank God, He never treats us this way. He is always right there beside us, ever ready to catch us when we fall.
We should always have the attitude, that I am always up, or I am getting up. I am never down for the count. Never let the bully of sin keep you down. You will make it, just don’t give up. See you next week.
The Kilted Priest 