Day 4
Signature Sins
Dave Montgomery
Signature
Sins are the ones that seem to plague us throughout our life. We all have them. We struggle with them repeatedly. No matter how hard we try, they come back
again.
Worry
was one that I struggled with for years.
Everyone experiences some anxiety in his or her life that is not what I
am talking about here. I am not talking
about a little anxiety, I am talking about the kind of worry that consumes your
life, when your stomach ties up in knots, worrying about things that were never
going to happen, “if this happens what will I do” type of worry.
Signature
Sin is part of who we have become, or rather who we were before we accepted
Christ as our savior. As
part of our “Upward Training”, we need to discover what triggers our signature
sin.
There
are root causes that cause them to be hard to overcome. My root cause was the fear of failure. I did not want to look like a failure so I
would worry what was going to happen “if” whatever I was worrying about happened. It was never the same thing. As I grew from childhood to being an adult,
the focus of my worry changed but it was the same problem.
I accepted Christ as my Savoir when I was 13,
but it was not until I was 32 that I decided to let Christ be not only my
Savior but also the Lord of my life.
I did
not surrender the worrying over to Him at that time, I continued with that same
“Signature Sin”. I was not able to overcome my worry until I
decided to apply the command In Philippians 4:6-7.
Philippians 4:6-7 says,” Do not be
anxious about anything, but in every
situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to
God. And the peace of
God, which transcends
all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
As I read that passage one morning, I realized Philippians 4:6-7 was not a suggestion but a command. If I was worrying all the time and if I was
continually living with the fear of failure, it was a sign that I really did
not trust God. It was a lack of faith.
1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness”.
That
is what I did. God is true to His word,
He not only forgives us He has given us the Holy Spirit to help us live
obedient lives.
My
victory over my “Signature Sin” was not instant. I learned that I needed to develop a closer
relationship with the Lord. It is a lifelong
effort, and I would not trade it for anything in this world.
Jerry Bridges, in his
book “The Pursuit of Holiness”, gives us an example of our responsibility to
walk in holiness; Farming is a joint venture between God and the farmer. The farmer cannot do what God must do, and
God will not do what the farmer should do.
We can say just as
accurately that the pursuit of holiness is a joint venture between God and the
Christian. No one can attain any degree
of holiness without God, working in his life, just as surely no one will attain
it without effort on his own part. God
has made it possible to walk in holiness.
But He has given us the responsibility of doing the walking; He does not
do that for us.”
I
learn something every day as I take the time to read His Word and
meditate. Try it; you will be surprised
with what you will learn by taking a few minutes out of each day. Develop a plan; set aside a time or several
short breaks during each day, what ever works for you. A farmer does not plant, cultivate and
harvest his crop without a plan. Without
a plan, you will most likely fail in your pursuit of Holiness.
What might
be your signature sin? What do you find
to be a recurring and intense struggle for you to overcome?
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How
has this sin impacted your life?
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What
strategy do you have to overcome this signature sin? What would it take?
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Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this
devotional, write out a prayer to God. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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