As I grow in my relationship with Christ, the Holy Spirit reveals more and more areas of my life that need to be surrendered to Christ. This is never easy. Actually, the longer follow Christ, the more painful this process becomes.
This should not be surprising.
When I first submitted my life to Christ, the Holy Spirit convicted me of superficial things that needed to be cleaned up in order for my life to outwardly display the inward change that had taken place. My language changed. My social activities changed. My habitual behaviors changed.
Gradually, my close circle of friends changed. The things I value changed. My desires changed. The things I pursue changed. My thoughts changed.
As time went on, my attitude changed. My beliefs about people and human nature changed. My priorities changed. The things I value changed some more, as did my thoughts. Things I once considered "personal" began to cause me grief. The Holy Spirit convicted me of sin that is not always evident to those around me. I'd never given much thought to things like jealousy, pride, arrogance, vanity, and lust...things that are more feeling than action, but these began to break my heart as I realized that these things grieve God.
Still more time has passed and the Holy Spirit continues to dig deeper into who I am and reveal areas of my heart that are not pleasing to God.
This week, I was convicted of not being a good steward of the gifts God has given me. Add to this, a list of idols that I didn't realize were idols. I've wrestled with how "good things" can be idols and can cause me to be separated from God.
I'm still working through this, but I believe that this has more to do with my heart than it does the "good things" in my life that I have turned into idols. It is my prayer that, as I grow in my relationship with Christ, I will be able to enjoy the wonderful gifts that this world offers without worshiping them.
I want to grow in my relationship with Christ that I ALWAYS worship the gift giver and not the gift given.
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