How Sin Sticks to Us (And How to Remove It)
By Tiffany Thibault
Change your hearts and lives! Turn back to God so that your sins may be wiped away. - Acts 3:19 (CEB)
The other day I was sitting in the dentist's chair for my bi-annual checkup. As the hygienist was carefully chipping away at the tartar buildup on my one stubborn tooth, I began to think about how tartar and sin are similar. We eat whole foods, we floss, brush and rinse well, but some of that tartar finds a way to hold on and stick so tightly that only an expert can remove it.
In the same way, sin has a way of sneaking into our lives, sticking to us, building up to such an extent that it actually becomes a part of us. It becomes our norm. We get so used to it being there that we forget all about it. We become super comfortable with it as it settles into place.
We are super good at lying to others and ourselves in our feeble attempts to cover up our sin.
But God, he is not content for that sin to remain in our lives. He sends people and circumstances our way to stretch us, to stress us, to illuminate the areas of sin that have become comfortable to us. These shake us up so much that we can clearly see the areas of sin sticking to our lives.
It would be a poor hygienist indeed if she were to send me home without adequately cleaning my teeth. In our hearts, as the Lord reveals the areas of hidden sin in our lives, we must remove it. James 4:17 says this: “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
Just as we should be intentional about dental care between our dental visits, we need to be intentional about examining our hearts, our actions and our attitudes for places where sin might be sneaking in. Our verse from Acts 3:19 says that this is an action that depends on me intentionally changing my heart and my life, and turning back to God, only then will my sins be wiped away.
I know that when I became a believer my sins were forgiven, but I am also very aware that while I live in my human body that it is super easy to slip into sin. Attitudes become thoughts that become comfortable sin patterns. It's like if Sin came through my door, put on my slippers, took a snack from the refrigerator, got comfy on my sofa and is planning to hang out for the weekend. It's like a guest that will never leave unless I kick him to the curb.
I pray that we all will examine our hearts and see the areas where sin is hiding. Let’s quickly kick it from our lives, so that we can be free of it, for only then will we see a change in our hearts and lives as we determine to keep living for Jesus.
Tiffany Thibault enjoys living life with her husband, two teenage daughters and one very large dog. She homeschools her girls, and loves to write and speak about Jesus. She loves long walks, coffee and anything chocolate. You can find her over at www.TiffanyThibault.com.
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