Scars. We all have them, whether they be physically or emotionally or mentally, we have them. I want you to start out this adventure by looking at all your scars. I want you to think about them. For most of us, we know exactly the time, place, and what exactly caused those scars. Those memories are etched into our minds and if you were asked about them you could recite every detail about what caused it. For example, I have this big scar on my left knee that I got at my daycare when I was around 11 years old. My friend and I were playing in the basement with the lights off, probably some video games or watching a movie, but I remember this next part vividly. They had a fan running down there, and it didn't have one of those safety cages on it. Because the room was pitch black I had no idea of the fan, and was doing a roll to exaggerate how disappointed I felt after dying in this game. This led me to roll into the fan leg first, which proceeded to slice a big gash into my left knee. That is just an example of a physical scar, but tonight I want to focus on that same idea. The scars our sins and Satan leave.
Let's first talk about the scars our sins leave. We sin. That is gonna happen. We are not perfect, but when we sin we inflict pain upon ourselves. We are not just going against God, but we are actually wounding ourselves. It brings pain, it brings hurt, and it takes time for those wounds to heal. An instance in my life where this shows is in my struggle with lust and my prior porn addiction. I watched porn repeatedly over and over again, and because of that I objectified women and let that twist the way I saw them instead of the sisterly love I am called to have for them I saw them as just ways to serve my own pleasure. I had a large wound on my life because of this. Honestly though, this is the core of my struggles in life and has been my largest wound that I have inflicted upon myself. When I first began the process of healing it definitely wasn't easy. The addiction had me and drew me back in over and over and over again like I needed it in order to survive, but every single time I looked at those women lustfully I just reopened that not fully healed wound again. I compare it to this. You are an athlete, and you just had a major injury which caused you to have a surgery. This surgery left a huge incision where they operated on you, but because you don't let the stitches fully heal before going back to work or back to your sport that incision/wound is reopened causing it to be stitched back up again.
God is that doctor. The one that stitches up that wound over and over again. We sin, but every time that we reopen that wound God sews us back up lovingly and the healing process begins again. It says in Psalm 147:3 where David talks about the Lord when he says, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." It's a vicious cycle if you let it continue over and over again. Scars are not there to be reopened as wounds over and over again, but to remind us of where we have been and where our lives would be without God in our lives. Look at those scars that sin and Satan have left on you. Think of where you have been, and where you used to be without God's grace. That is where you use to be in the PAST not in the present! HE HAS MADE YOU NEW! Those scars are healed my friends. I just encourage us all to look at those scars and be confident that you have overcome those things because by HIS grace you have been saved.
Papa, I pray tonight that we all can see our scars as not fresh wounds that still bring us pain and hurt but as marks of our past lives without you within it. Don't let us dwell on our pasts and those pains, but help us move forward toward the goals and plans you have ahead. Shape in us a new heart that doesn't run back to our previous ways of escape, but let us run to you. You are amazing Father, and we praise you for pulling us from the fire of our sins. We love you Papa, and let us not forget it. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
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