Surrender for Freedom

    Let's dive into something that struck me as absolutely beautiful today: Grace. Not because of how it sounds when I hum that tune, "Grace, grace, God's grace," but because of what it truly means. It's this overwhelming, never-ending grace of God that makes any relationship with Him possible at all. And it's not about any righteousness of our own – trust me, we've already established we're not bringing anything impressive to the table.

    Remember that analogy we talked about last week? Our so-called righteousness being like that lost, stinky diaper in the backseat of a car. Yeah, that's us trying to boast about our goodness to God. It's laughable, isn't it?

    It's all about grace, folks. Our faith in His grace is what saves us, as Ephesians 2:8-9 spells out. It's a gift, meaning nobody gets to brag about it. If you ever catch someone boasting about their salvation or their Christian life, hit the mute button on them. They're missing the whole point of the Gospel.

    I'm a pastor, and if it were up to me, I'd preach about grace every single day. Can't get enough of it. But that doesn't mean we ignore the rest of God's Word, which is equally important and also all about His grace.

    Here's the thing, though. Grace is only as valuable as what it's saving us from, which is sin. Sin is bad, real, and dangerous, and today, I feel compelled to talk about it, even though it's not my favorite topic.

    Sin's like that nasty diaper – it's something we'd rather not deal with, but ignoring it doesn't make it any less real or any less dangerous. And just as we need to deal with a stinky diaper, we need to confront sin in our lives. Not in a judgmental way, because believe me, I'm right there with you. I've been feeling the weight of my own sins this week, and it's been tough looking in the mirror knowing I'm about to talk about sin. We're going to look at how surrendering to God frees us from the grip of sin. It's about acknowledging our weakness and turning to Him for strength.

    Sin is tricky. It promises satisfaction but delivers death. James 1:13-15 paints a vivid picture of temptation leading to sin and sin leading to death. It's a cycle we're all too familiar with, whether it's through obvious sins like addiction or subtler ones like apathy or selfishness.

    Paul's struggle in Romans 7:14-25 hits home for many of us. He talks about wanting to do good but ending up doing the very thing he hates. It's a battle within, and if Paul struggled with it, you bet we do too.

    The takeaway here is not to flirt with sin but to flee from it. It's about pursuing God and His righteousness instead of seeing how close we can get to sin without being burned. 1 Timothy 6:11 urges us to flee from all this and fight the good fight of faith.

 Let's not fool ourselves into thinking we're above temptation or beyond the reach of sin. 1 John 1:8-10 reminds us that claiming we're without sin is self-deception. Confession and repentance are key to finding freedom in Christ.

    Freedom from sin isn't a one-time deal; it's a daily surrender to God. It's about choosing whom we will serve every moment of every day. Let's choose God, not sin. I know it's tough to hear, but like the bitter medicine that heals, this message is meant for our good.

    How is sin trying to take hold in your life, and what steps are you taking to surrender it to God? Let's encourage one another to live in the freedom that Christ offers.