Avoiding Spiritual Naivety

Matthew 15:19

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Have you ever stubbed your toe on a piece of furniture or perhaps leaned up quickly and hit your head on something?  I am sure you have.  We all have.  Did the unexpected jolt of pain result in words of love and praise flowing from your mouth?  For most of us, the answer would most certainly be no.  More likely, we may have let out a few words that we were not too proud of.

Found in the core structure of the flesh is sin.  Thus our response to trials can often be categorized as something less than holy. To think that we are capable of avoiding the trappings of our flesh on our own would be spiritually naive.  In fact, we would be thinking contrary to the Word of God if we thought we had such control over ourselves.  We are firmly bound to sin without the indwelling of Jesus Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

We can lead good lives by worldly standards, but we cannot lead Godly lives without the saving grace of Jesus Christ and the filling of the Holy Spirit.  Purity is too deep down for man to get to naturally.  We need the Holy Spirit to guide us in surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ so that we may live in accordance with His unsullied purity.

Let us surrender our hearts to Jesus Christ.  Let us ask the Holy Spirit to show us how to make our lives completely pleasing to Our Lord.  Let us rejoice in knowing that His grace is sufficient.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us Your Son, Jesus, to be the supreme authority over our hearts. We pray that the Holy Spirit will strengthen us in our battle to live our lives in a manner that is pleasing to You. By Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace, may we repent of everything in our lives that displeases You. We pray that we may surrender all that we have and all that we are to You.  We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You in purity and perfection for all eternity.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who is Perfect and Holy, Jesus Christ.