Therefore be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints. Coarse and foolish talking or crude joking is not suitable, but rather giving thanks. For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God. Ephesians 5:1-5 HCSB
Some of you reading this are like I was some years ago. You are holding on to sin in your life because you are afraid to give it up. You think you are comfortable with it and you just don’t know how to let it go.
We have all kinds of reasons for holding on to sin. Our scripture passage today tells us that we should be imitators of God. God dearly loves us and we should behave as dearly loved children and honor our heavenly Father by imitating Christ. We honor our earthly parents by obeying their rules right? But just as rebellious teenagers, we have sin and we don’t think we would be considered the cool kid if we just let go of that sin.
Our scripture passage tells us to walk in love. This means that those around us see a difference in us because of the way we treat people. If the Messiah loved us enough to die for us, then can’t we die to our old sinful self and show those around us that new creature in Christ that we became when we were saved? Can’t we offer ourselves to the Lord?
Why would we hold on to any sexual immorality? Well, maybe because it would be too awkward for us to walk away from the water cooler at work while the guys are telling that dirty joke. Or maybe we can’t imagine telling our friend to stop sending the pornographic pics to us. Or maybe we can’t imagine not sexting with the girl in the office. It’s all innocent right? Wrong.
Maybe we can give up the sexual immorality, but we can’t clean our mouths up. Our scripture passage tell us that coarse and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable. But what will your friends think? Oh my, will they call you a prude? Will they call you a Jesus freak?
What if instead of criticizing others, we tried to help them? What if instead of crude joking, we gave thanks for the good things in our lives?
Our scripture passage tell us to know and recognize that every sexually immoral or impure person, or greedy person who is an idolater does not have an inheritance in God’s kingdom. Now some of you may be saying that you are not an idolater, but I assure you if you cannot give up any sin in your life because you are concerned about what your friends may think, then you are an idolater my friend. You worship and glorify that friendship more than you do your relationship with Christ.
We convince ourselves that it’s okay, it’s all in fun or jest, but do you think God’ sees it that way? Would you speak with your pastor or your church members like you do those at your workplace or your friends outside of church? Would you send some of the pics and jokes that you receive to your pastor? If they are not suitable for sharing with your pastor, they are not suitable for you.
Let me make it as simple as I know how. It’s kind of like someone walking up to you and asking you if you would be willing to exchange a dollar bill for 10 million dollars free and clear. The only thing you have to pay to receive this 10 million dollars is one dollar and it’s guaranteed. This is not a lottery, this is not gambling it’s a sure thing. You’d be crazy not to exchange one dollar for ten million right?
Well, when we exchange our sin for a new life in Christ, that’s exactly what we are doing. We can give our sin up to Him and ask Him to fill us with His Holy Spirit to help us resist temptation. But my friend I am telling you from personal experience there is nothing you are giving up that is better than what Christ has to offer. He gives so much more than what we give up. Not only do we receive peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), unending joy (Isaiah 51:11), and unending blessings (Psalm 21:6), but He will protect us when we choose to live in the shelter of his love (Psalm 91:1-2). And as if that’s not enough, we are promised eternity in heaven with God the Father (John 14:2).
If you have been unwilling to give up your sin for whatever reason, then I beg of you to do so now. What are you waiting for? I know it’s scary, but seriously it’s a no brainer. The problem is we can’t see our future. But I promise you your future will be much lighter and much brighter when you are not weighed down by sin. So give it up to Him, He will erase it, forget about it and remove it from you. You will be so glad you did. I know I am.
Have a great day!