My first year of marriage has been a blessing bundled in change. After 34 years of singlehood, I married a wonderful man and was grafted into a new lifestyle. I previously ministered within the church in various jobs with titles such as Secretary, Administrative Assistant, Coordinator, Intern and volunteer. I even landed a job as a Sorority House Director for many years, living in the house with the gals as a platform for loving them in the name of Christ. I devoted much of my time to pursuits that hit my life's core values and interests, and reaped the rewards of having such titles. I could focus my attention on what mattered. People knew me, recognized me. People sought me out. Those titles and roles stood as an open door to direct people my way.
After a lovely piece of metal and rock adorned my finger, I set my course to plan a wedding in a few months time. (When you're single so long, who wants to wait?!) I left my beloved job at the sorority house. I stepped aside from church-based ministry. And I began to let God's current of change sweep me away.
One year later I've ridden the rapids of how much I loved myself way too much and struggled to navigate around an invisible existence. ("Invisible" meaning unable to attain the attention I wanted for myself.) My previous titles blessed me with open doors to minister to hearts the Lord directed toward me, but they also served my sinful appetite of being known. To be recognized by people is a tool God can use for influence. But the human heart has an appetite for sin, even in the midst of holy pursuits.
Cast Off
This is why Peter, in his letter to the churches, instructs churchgoers to get rid of or lay aside certain behaviors and to crave pure spiritual nourishment so that we might grow up into saved adults instead of remaining immature (1 Peter 2:1-3). As a sinner saved by grace, my desire for sin did not leave me. God didn't wave his magic wand and surround me with an aura of light and angelic singing. I'm as sinful as I was before. I see it. I smell it. I know it. I recognize that I am a new creation in Christ and saved from the guilt of my sin. Even still, I need someone to remind me to quit what is outside of God's will and to hunger after God Himself.
My niece P recently potty trained. It was quite the struggle for her little self. But tasting of something better ahead, she set her mind to conquering the flesh. Her fear of the toilet was NOT going to keep her from getting into preschool. Her esteemed big brother had the privilege of attending preschool as a part of the potty-trained community; she wanted that. She worked hard and earned her letter of acceptance, but P needed to first hear about her need for growth and to understand how to get there.
Crave
Similarly, Peter knows that Christians still need training in regards to spiritual growth. We get tangled, like I did in the esteem of titles and attention. But if we direct ourselves to the growth that Peter encourages, the Holy Spirit will help us recognize that in Christ some thing are no longer needed or acceptable. We do not need to entertain evil in our minds, to envy one another, to speak against and criticize one another. Instead Peter commands us to leave that behind, to love sincerely and to ingest what is spiritually pure. First Peter 1 explains that what is pure comes from God and is directed by the Holy Spirit: God's chosen revelation of Himself through the prophets, the teaching and testimony of Christ, and the good news of salvation preached by those who believe.
Today, I invite you to let the Holy Spirit minister to your heart. Take a moment to consume what is spiritually pure: repeat the good news of Jesus to yourself, listen to the Bible and pray. He will reveal what you need to lay aside and walk away from today. Be encouraged, God will not hold against you the fact that you don't desire what is good in the first place. That's why the Holy Spirit was given to you as an encouraging gift--a revealer of sin and builder of holiness. He is equipped with the power of change.
Let Jesus be the glory you walk towards.
(c) 2013 by Kendra Higgins
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