Crucifying of Sins with Christ, Refining Our Faith”

In Sunday school, the ladies at my church were studying Galatians 5:13-26, and something really struck me as I sat in on their class. In verse 24 Paul tells us that those who belong to Christ have crucified their sinful nature.

It was pointed out that crucifixion was a painful process. Let me say that louder for my friends in the back, dying to ourselves is both painful and a process. When I think about this painful process, I think about the times I have failed. Every bad decision or failure and its major consequences. Each time I learned more about the world, about myself, and eventually, I began to see God in it too. This learning process has taught me more about what it means to follow Christ and why His way is above ours.

The pain of dying to self

I don’t know about you but when I was young it was hard to accept the, “because I said so” reason. That is exactly what God’s reasoning felt like to me when I was young. But as I made choices contrary to God’s will I began to see that God had reasons for the things he said both practical and spiritual.

As I began to understand that what God said was always for my good. I began to realize that I could trust God. I grew out of the need to learn everything first-hand. Now, I can take God at His word, which has saved me from many consequences.

Nailing our sinful nature to the cross means learning how to deny our selfish wants and desires and instead walking in the spirit, wanting the things of God. To learn to want things of God I had to learn to hate sin.

For me, this looked like falling into sin and having to deal with the consequences. The consequences were bad enough to make me not want to return to the person I was, to scare me enough to send me running to the arms of my father God. And He was there for me, to show me a better way to live.

Maybe for you, it has not been so dramatic, and that is okay. We all have stories whether mild or wild we have all fallen short and all need to be refined by God. God will use all parts of our lives to teach us and mold us into the image-bearers we were always meant to be.

Through my intense trials, I have found that I learned to no longer want things I used to. Now I walk in freedom. I am not bound to my past sins, and I am not destined to repeat them. I am growing in Christ, reflecting Him more every day and peace has spread throughout my life. It is the most rewarding journey, and God is not done yet.

God’s still working

God is not done with you yet either. If you are struggling with shame of the past or the weight of fear of failure know that you can lay it down at the feet of Jesus. His arms are stretched out wide and He is able and willing to take on your burden and set you free.

Begin to look at your life and see how God has used adversity, sin, and failures to bring you to this point. How He has used the bad choices to humble you and teach you.

When we take captive our thoughts and choose to see our past failures as God refines us, the fear of failure and the shame of the past just melt away. Once the weight of our shame, guilt, and fear is lifted we can move about our life with joy and peace, and we can carry out the work the Lord has set out for us.

When old past shames come creeping into your mind. Instead of thinking about the incident with a critical lens. Try to look at it from a godly perspective. Look for God’s hand working to mold, shape, and refine you. Take a minute to thank God for all the things He is doing seen and unseen to help make you more like Him and to draw you closer to Himself.

In the comment below let us know about your experience with trials, and God’s refinement in your own life, or drop me an email at emilyb@moreofJesusplease.com.