The Bravest Loser! (Galatians 5)
Galatians 5.1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. [nkjv]Eric Choppin was 36 years old and 407 pounds when he got the call from NBC to say he was a contestant on Season 3 of the Biggest Loser. He had struggled most of his life to overcome his battle with obesity and this was the chance of a lifetime to finally walk free. It was literally now a matter of life or death as he had been recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and a variety of weight related medical conditions.
He worked hard and with the help of his trainers, Eric managed to lose 214 pounds in 12 weeks, making him that season's Biggest Loser. However once the show was over and the cameras were switched off, Eric struggled to maintain his new weight. Over the months which followed, he gained 122 pounds! Feeling ashamed, he did his best to avoid the media by using older photograph's of himself on Facebook and myspace, and even turned down an offer to appear on Oprah with the other Biggest Loser contestants.
In January, Eric could no longer live a lie. He accepted a second invitation by Oprah to share his story and struggle. Many were shocked by how far he had fallen. During the interview he candidly admitted his failure, he apologised to those he had let down and made a fresh commitment to continue his battle to overcome obesity.
I've come to greatly admire people like Eric. People who refuse to give up despite failure.
I wish more Christians had this same tenacity. So many of us keep getting caught out by the same temptations over and over again. After years of falling down, we see ourselves as weak and powerless.
But the truth remains, Jesus has paid the price so we can be free. This doesn't give us a green light to sin but it does mean that if we fall, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So we have a choice to make, do we admit defeat and stay down or are we brave enough to get back up, dust ourselves off, place both feet firmly on the ground and continue the fight.
Someone once said, "the secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage."
5 comments:
Gal 5:4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
The road to Salvation is an ongoing choice, not a once-off commitment and relinquishing of control. The amazing gift of God's Grace has a single requirement on our part - admitting that I ARENT able to do it myself and submitting control of my life to God. Problem is, human nature gravitates towards control and grabbing the reins back off God. "It doesnt make sense to us that someone would give me a free ticket - I'd better do something to make myself more loveable so that God will notice me..."
How good is our God that he not only notices us, offers us all the unbelievable gift of free grace, but he LOVES each one of us as a special and unique child!!!
Verse 6: ...The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Galatians 5:14 The entire law is summed up in a single command "Love your neighbour as yourself"
Why is this so important for God that we love one another? Firstly because we are made in the image of God we can recognise Him in our fellow humans. By loving others we are honouring God.
Secondly, it enables us to fulfill a more meaningful life and help others. Again we are created in His image and should behave as Jesus would behave, think as Jesus would think and act as Jesus would act and this would be with a heart of love.
God loves us and so expects us to love in the same way.
Gal 22-23
But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely
A wonderful way to live
Gal 5:25 "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
Learning to keep in step with the Spirit requires real commitment and single-minded focus. Just as two dancers need to learn how to move fluently together knowing when and how to respond to the lead of their partner - so too it takes a collaboration of mind and spirit to keep in step with the Spirit of God in our lives.
It just doesn't happen overnight. It is a process which is learnt and practised to make it seem that two dancers are of the same mind. Just as it is with us as we learn to respond to the leading of the Spirit. It takes time to recognise when He is drawing us on or changing direction. But as we become more familiar with His voice we learn to step in easily with Him.
We also learn to drown out the music of popularity and ignore when satan tries to "cut in" and cause us to fall out of step. What's a missed step here and there he prompts.
But finally we learn that following the Spirit means we resist the urge to dance through life our way - it never works.
Every time we move in step with the Spirit, we're saying yes to God!
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