And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice.
They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they knew full well God’s just sentence-that those who practice such things deserve to die-they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.
Romans 1:28-32 HCSB

Many of us believe in God, but do we acknowledge God? Just believing in God is not enough. God is not willing to accept anything but first place in our lives. When we give Him first place, we acknowledge Him in all that we do. Proverbs 3:6 tells us to acknowledge God in all we do and He will guide our path. I can honestly say that some of the biggest mistakes I ever made in my life were those times when I just jumped out there on my own and did what I thought was best. What a mess I made. It took me a while, but I finally learned to acknowledge God in all I do. I am still struggling with my mouth. When I ask God to help me to eat healthier, He helps me to consider Him before I eat something I shouldn’t. When I ask God to give me His words, He makes what I say acceptable to Him. He keeps me out of trouble. I just don’t always acknowledge Him before I speak.

Acknowledging God can make our stay on planet earth much more pleasant, but it also helps to determine our eternal destination. Galatians 5:16 tells us that when we walk in the Spirit, we won’t fulfill the desires of the flesh. If we stay focused on God and acknowledge Him in all we do, He will help us to avoid sinful behavior.

I have read Romans chapter 1 several times, but when our pastor did a sermon on the latter part of this chapter, it really helped me understand what Paul was saying here. God wants each and every one of us to accept Him, but if we continually refuse to acknowledge Him in our day to day lives, He will give us over to the desires of the flesh. It’s kind of like playing Galatians 5:16 backwards. If we don’t walk in the Spirit, we will be given over to our flesh.

Our scripture passage lists the behaviors that we will participate in if this happens. It’s a long list but look at our passage and see if you fit into any of these categories. Gossips and slanderers caused me to wince. I told you it’s usually my mouth that gets me into trouble. He starts out by talking about evil behavior and wickedness, but then goes on to talk about being prideful and arrogant and disobeying parents.

Where the real problem comes in is at the end of our scripture passage. Paul tells them that those who practice such things deserve to die, or spend eternity in hell. He says they not only do them, but applaud others who do the same. When we are lost in sin, we are blinded to God’s truth. Our ears become deaf to the truth of God. Romans 1:25 tells us that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped something created instead of the Creator.

We often see people do stupid things and wonder why they do such things. I assure you, if you fail to acknowledge God in every area of your life you are subject to be just as bad as them. When God gives us over, we no longer see anything wrong with our selfish, wicked behavior. We even think it’s great when others do the same things.

We tread on a slippery slope when we are disobedient and fail to acknowledge God in all that we do. It’s easy to believe in God. We see His creation all around us. But when it comes to doing things His way, we can be really stubborn. I just want you to understand that if we continue in this way, God may just give us over. When this happens we will no longer have the desire to change our ways. We will no longer get that gentle nudge from the Holy Spirit telling us that we have messed up and we need to ask God to forgive us and help us to not do these things anymore.

We must learn to live out Proverbs 3:5-6, we must trust in God in all we do and not lean on our own understanding. We must acknowledge Him in all our ways and trust Him to guide our paths. My friend, this is the only way to be assured that you are on the right path which ultimately will lead you through those gates of pearl and onto those streets of gold (Revelation 21:21)

Have a great day!