Sinful nature, you float through me. You burden me and you deceive me. I know you are there; but I close my eyes and try not to see you.
And yet you are in my reflection. Wanting everything to be perfect. Wanting to be right. Wanting to live comfortably.
I once thought I was you and you were me. I once justified your motives, believing they were mine.
Only by the blood of Jesus do I know you exist outside of me, yet you still attack me. And like a puppet hung on strings, I move with your direction only to feel the same sick hangover in the morning.
But you don’t have my heart.
Lord, I confess the selfishness and pride that leaves me blind. Remove these strongholds in my life so that I can live only for you!
There is a battle being waged over my soul.
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.
— Galatians 5:19-21a
Thank you for your love, Lord. Thank you for your mercy again and again. Thank you for opening my eyes to see the destruction that occurs when I look away from you.
Thank you for surrounding me with faithful sisters and brothers who trust in you. With church leaders who love you and reinforce your Word. With a heart for Jesus, even when I fail to love like Jesus.
Thank you for giving me a marriage joined by you, not by me.
Lord, you care for your children. Give me eyes that see only you when I look in the mirror.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
— Galatians 5:22-25
Persecution Live 