I recently got an email from a woman at the church I started attending several months back inviting me to the Women’s Bible Study she hosts at her home on Monday nights. I unfortunately have a night class on Monday nights this semester, so I hit the reply button to tell her thank you, but I won’t be able to attend this semester. I addressed her by name, then continued to write the body of the letter then clicked the send button. As the box indicating my message had been “sent” popped up, I noticed her name was spelled “Bethaney” rather than the usual “Bethany”, which was how I had wrote it when I replied to her email. I shrugged it off assuming she probably was used to people misspelling her name. I then proceeded to laugh at the fact that I had seen the correct spelling when I opened the email, but still misspelled it when I emailed back! I was so used to seeing “”Bethany” spelled the “normal” way that my mind didn’t even notice the difference. It’s as though it autocorrected to the usual way I was used to seeing it.
This is true with our sinful natures as well. When we come to Christ or come to a realization that our way of living is contrary to how God intended us to live, it’s a hard adjustment. Often times we don’t even notice that our “usual” way of doing, thinking, speaking, and perceiving things is different than this new way we’ve been introduced to in Christ. It takes some rewiring by the Holy Spirit to readjust our natural bent to anger, lust, greed, selfishness, bitterness, or what have you. It takes a divine overdrive in order to do this, and sometimes we have to make the uncomfortable, difficult decision to force ourselves to do that which is contrary to our nature, but that we know is right. Eventually, with the Holy Spirit’s assistance we will begin to be transformed more and more into the likeness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
For those of you with cell phones that have a text messaging plan, you know the curious words your phone tends to autocorrect to. But have you noticed that often times words that you use often in your conversations over time become the default words your phone will autocorrect to? This is a metaphor of your Christian walk (however, it is an imperfect one). The more you “put into practice” your faith and what you know is right, the more natural it will become. Temptations will still come and your old nature will try to rear its ugly head, but the more and more you faithfully follow God’s commands and grow in your understanding of what God expects of a holy life the less uncomfortable these characteristics and behaviors will be. The closer to God you become, the less you will want the things of your old sinful life and the more you will want to be in the presence of God. Eventually, the Holy Spirit will be your spiritual “autocorrect”, adjusting your behavior and mindset to be in step with the heart of God and the character of Christ.
This is true with our sinful natures as well. When we come to Christ or come to a realization that our way of living is contrary to how God intended us to live, it’s a hard adjustment. Often times we don’t even notice that our “usual” way of doing, thinking, speaking, and perceiving things is different than this new way we’ve been introduced to in Christ. It takes some rewiring by the Holy Spirit to readjust our natural bent to anger, lust, greed, selfishness, bitterness, or what have you. It takes a divine overdrive in order to do this, and sometimes we have to make the uncomfortable, difficult decision to force ourselves to do that which is contrary to our nature, but that we know is right. Eventually, with the Holy Spirit’s assistance we will begin to be transformed more and more into the likeness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
For those of you with cell phones that have a text messaging plan, you know the curious words your phone tends to autocorrect to. But have you noticed that often times words that you use often in your conversations over time become the default words your phone will autocorrect to? This is a metaphor of your Christian walk (however, it is an imperfect one). The more you “put into practice” your faith and what you know is right, the more natural it will become. Temptations will still come and your old nature will try to rear its ugly head, but the more and more you faithfully follow God’s commands and grow in your understanding of what God expects of a holy life the less uncomfortable these characteristics and behaviors will be. The closer to God you become, the less you will want the things of your old sinful life and the more you will want to be in the presence of God. Eventually, the Holy Spirit will be your spiritual “autocorrect”, adjusting your behavior and mindset to be in step with the heart of God and the character of Christ.
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