Becoming a Christian is like having successful heart surgery. You take off the filthy garments and put on new ones of holiness. What a relief to know that in Christ, you’re spiritually free from the grip of bad habits.
You can learn some incredible lessons watching someone limp.
Hi, this is Joni Eareckson Tada and I remember when I was hospitalized as a teenager, I met a man in the hospital hampered by a severe limp. I’d see him every morning, hobbling down the hallway on his lame joints with the aid of a walker. And all of us on the floor were looking forward to the day when radical surgery would correct his disability.
And that day finally came. The surgeons opened him up, replaced several diseased joints and his lameness was cured. Yet for nearly a year after that successful surgery, the man continued to limp. I recall greeting him when he came back to the hospital for a visit. And there he was, using his cane and walking with a limp. “That’s a shame his surgery didn’t take,” I commented to his doctor one day. And the doctor shook his head and said, “Well, it did take, Joni. You see, that man limps out of nothing but mere habit.”
Can you believe that? That guy developed strong habit patterns over his years as a disabled person, and even though he was physically free from limping, he still tended to slip back into his old ways. You know friend, in a similar manner, we Christians tend to sin, mainly out of habit. We know that in Christ we have died to sin and its rule over us. Sin no longer has power over us. We have been freed. We are completely free to live a life pleasing to him. Read your emancipation proclamation in passages like Romans 6 and Galatians 2, and many more.
But old habits die hard for lame men and yes, for Christians. When we become Christians, we are spiritually free from the grip of sinful thoughts and actions, but unfortunately, as believers we develop strong habit patterns over the years. And often we find ourselves slipping back into old ways, the ways of disobedience and death. It’s habit to look out for ourselves instead of others. It’s habit to retaliate when someone hurts us. It’s habit to indulge our appetites. And it’s habit to live for ourselves and not for God.
When we become Christians, it’s like having radical surgery – heart surgery – a heart transplant, if you would. Yet it’s a struggle to drop all those old habits overnight. In fact, you and I will spend the rest of our lives doing just that, putting off these filthy old garments, these old habits and putting on new ones of holiness.
You know what old, sinful habits you’re leaning on today, don’t you? They die hard, whether it’s shading the truth, forcing your own opinions on others, a little lustful fantasizing, whatever. Today, friend, would you quit leaning on those rotten old crutches. You are free from the power of those dark habits, so start acting like it. Join the apostle Paul in declaring these bright words of freedom from Galatians 2:20 where it says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live now in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Love that verse! Friend, your radical surgery was a complete success according to Galatians Chapter 2:20.
Oh and please know that we, at Joni & Friends care about your struggles too. Our staff gathers every morning to intercede on behalf of friends like you who contact our ministry in need of prayer. Whether it’s an upcoming surgery or a prodigal child gone astray. Contact us today on my radio page at joniradio.org. We want to hear from you. And we want to join our Savior in heaven in interceding for your special needs. Again, just write us your prayer request at joniradio.org. And then, please keep us posted on how you’re doing and what’s going on. Thanks for listening!
© Joni and Friends