Navigating Spiritual Growth: The Perils of Sin and the Power of Discipline

Num 6:12 And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.

One moment in sin can destroy the testimony of a lifetime! It is sad but true that regardless of men’s accomplishments and achievements, they are all too often remembered, not for their nobility, but for their shame! Although it is virtually impossible for us to achieve sinless perfection this side of Heaven, may it be our desire that we keep our bodies under subjection to the will of God, so that at the very least we shall minimize the damage that is caused by our carnal man!

A man who yields no control to the Spirit of God in order to rule his flesh is also a man who will always take one step forward and two steps back in his feeble attempts to walk with the Lord. I think of all the wasted years, all the mistakes, all the blunders of the past, and I am ashamed to think of how much further I would be in my walk with the Lord had I not been so prone to wander!

When we fail the test, we must start back at ground zero, and do it all over again! Let us determine today that we won’t be caught in a vicious spiritual cycle of failure, but that we shall pass the test this time so we can get our spiritual promotion to move to the next level! It ought to be our goal to determine with the help of the Lord to experience no more spiritual set-backs because of careless, selfish sinful behavior!

On that great and noble day when we stand before our Lord, instead of hearing “Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?”, I want to hear “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”

What about you?

~ Pastor Gary Caudill
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