Romans 6: 12 – 14
Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires. Do not offer the members of your body to sin as tools of unrighteousness. Instead, offer yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and offer the members of your body to God as tools of righteousness. Indeed, sin will not continue to control you, because you are not under law but under grace.
Dear Heavenly Father,
You sent your Son to redeem us from sin, death, and damnation. Through Jesus Holy life and death, he took the world’s sins upon himself and there justified us—declaring us not guilty of our sins. Through faith, we now live as your people. We deserved eternal damnation, but because of Jesus’ work and your love and mercy, we now have eternal life, and we are to offer ourselves as tools of righteousness.
As redeemed children, we continuously fight the temptations of sin that come our way; instead of giving in to those desires. They can come at us from our families, friends, the world, and sometimes our own sinful flesh. When we fail to acknowledge our anger and harbor resentment in our lives instead of addressing this, this can cause us to live with unrepentant sin. This is not the way you would have us live as your children. You once told Cain to “watch out for the sin that is crouching at your door.” Through Paul, you instructed us, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies.”
Lord, forgive us when we harbor vanity, pride, and discontentment towards others, especially our brothers and sisters in the faith. Let us offer our bodies as tools of righteousness to share and reflect your love to others. Lord, forgive us when we stumble and give us the strength to forgive others when they stumble also. Grant us the confidence to address the discontentment or anger with others and resolve what is causing us angst. Why? Because as Paul wrote, “we are not under the law but under your grace.” It is your grace that forgave us all our sins. Amen.
Roger Emmons
Pastor
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
When we have a problem with someone else, much of the time, they don’t even know there is a crack in the relationship until it becomes a canyon.