Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Ephesians

What Sin Is

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Each of us wrestles with the problem of sin. To understand how to win this battle, we must first define the terms. What is sin? Sin is any violation of God’s Law (1 John 3:4). We know everyone is guilty of this (Romans 3:23). Holiness is the goal because our lives are supposed to look like Jesus. We can’t look like Jesus when we are continuing to indulge in the same sinful patterns that we always have.

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None of us can live a sinless life; only Jesus was able to accomplish that. But each of our lives should move closer to that ideal every day. God’s law is unchanging, and He has plainly stated what violating His law involves (Mark 12:28-31). When we love anything more than God or when we do not love others as much as we love ourselves, we are sinning. There is no vagueness about what sin is.

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Standing Firm

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It has been said if you can’t stand firm, then you won’t stand at all. We see this proven out in our spiritual lives. No one can claim they stand for Jesus if they won’t stand for Him under trials and difficulties. Standing firm means to stand without wavering. You can’t be a warrior for Jesus one day and live your life as if He wasn’t Lord the next.

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In Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul tells us to always be prepared for the day of battle by putting on the full armor of God. If we do that, we will hold fast to Christ regardless of what the enemy sends our way (Ephesians 6:13). The easiest way to not lose our footing is to never take our eyes off Jesus, never stop delighting in His Word, and never stop reminding ourselves that our life is not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Galatians 2:19-20).

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Making the Most of Our Time

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Paul instructs believers to always be making the most of our time because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15-16). I don’t think any of us doubt that the days we are living in are evil. Never in my lifetime have we seen such hate, violence, and disregard for God as we do right now. So, in these evil days, how do we redeem the time so we spend it focusing on God instead of the evil in the world?

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Without intention and guidelines, it’s too easy to be drawn into the darkness instead of dwelling in the light. We will never passively make the most of our time. It must be something we consciously choose to do. That means we’re going to stand out, people will probably mock us, and we may even face persecution. But this is the life Jesus calls us to, and it is the life we choose for the sake of Christ.

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Careless Words

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Memories of words spoken to us and by us mark each of our lives. The words of someone else have hurt each of us, and we have all wounded someone with our words. Words have caused more violence than any weapon mankind has ever created. Careless words destroy another’s dreams, tear down confidence, and instill wrong beliefs. Oh, what damage we do when we pay no attention to what comes out of our mouths.

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We could avoid so much pain if we would only be intentional about the words we speak. Perhaps nothing will define us more than our words. If we want to live like Jesus, we must exercise discipline with what we allow to spill from our lips.

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Reframing

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I heard a story of an airline pilot whose goal was to become the best pilot in the business. He framed everything in his life around that industry. When his friends were talking about Paris, he would interject about the time he flew there. When the topic was food, he would talk about the improving quality of airline food. No matter the subject, he would find a way to relate it to flying.

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His worldview allowed him to see everything in the context of what he held most dear. This reframing of every situation and conversation holds a great lesson for living the Christian life. If we were all as dedicated to our faith as that pilot was to his passion, our love for Christ would grow exponentially. No one would ever question the purpose of our lives.

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