YOUR EVIL TWIN - PART 1 “Empty hands held high, such small sacrifice, if not joined with my life, I sing in vain tonight.”- Casting Crowns (from their song, “Lifesong”) Romans 7: 17 – 20 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. “The devil made me do it!” That was a popular saying back when I was a teen, made famous by comedian Flip Wilson. Although that exact saying might not be used much anymore, people still want to blame an outside force to justify their sins, mistakes, and crimes. You may hear it now referred to in a more serious ways as “he or she could not overcome their demons”. Although I do believe in demonic possession, I would suggest that 99% of the time people who continue to struggle with sin are not filled with demons, but more likely filled with pride, greed, lust, stubbornness, or rebellion. The bottom line is this: You do not have an evil twin; you have to acknowledge that you and you alone are responsible for your actions. Although society can be cruel, parents can be less than ideal, and money doesn’t fall from the skies, you have the ability to live for God regardless of the circumstances. I have seen rich kids who go astray, and poor kids who excel in the kingdom of God. Learn to put your trust in this truth: Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? THE FACE OF EVIL In the passage quoted above (Romans 7), Paul opened up with honesty and showed the struggle we all face with our flesh. In our spirit and in our mind, we desire to serve the Lord, but it is in our actions that we struggle at times to perform His will. However, if you will study both the 7th & 8th chapter of Romans, you will see that Paul was not giving his approval of living in sin. He was teaching on the difference of merely trying to obey the commandments without the indwelling of the Spirit, and allowing the Spirit of Christ to have dominion in your life. Every person, regardless of their appearance, has the ability to become evil or become good. If you will put your trust solely in the redemptive work of Christ, you will not struggle with condemnation (see Rom. 8:1). We think we know evil by the face of a person, because we have been programmed to think that way. We have seen movies with evil Characters, we have seen news reports of violent murderers. We see their photos and say, “he looks evil or she looks evil”, because we already know what they have done. If we see a photo of Osama Bin Laden, we automatically see the face of evil because of what we know about him, but if Bin Laden had been a God-fearing Christian who was doing good deeds, would he not have had the same face? The truth is that all of those faces, whether they are of movie characters or real-life persons, are not what makes them evil. It is the stuff that they are made of on the inside that determines whether they be evil or good. Ministers can become bad, and prisoners can become good. Only God knows what is really going on inside of a person’s heart.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 00:33:38 +0000
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