Your Daily Devotional for September 4, 2006

 

September 4, 2006

 

That’s Just the Way I Am!

by Dr. Paul Chappell

  

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.”

 

1 Corinthians 15:34

 

Have you ever asked someone why they did something a particular way and they replied, “That’s just the way I am!”? People tend to blame a lot of things on their upbringing, society, or their culture. One thing that no one can blame on someone else is their sin.

 

Yes, we all inherited our sin nature from Adam, but no one makes you sin. Many people do not want to take responsibility for their actions so they resort to the excuse, “That’s just the way I am.” As Christians, we can become lulled into thinking that there is no way of breaking this sin cycle and there is no hope for change.

 

It can become very frustrating when someone falls into the same sin over and over again, but there is hope! Yes, we all sin, but we can have victory over sin in our life! If you want to stop doing a particular thing, then believe that God can help you stop and use His strength to help you gain the victory.

 

Satan is the one who tells you that you can never get over that certain sin. He doesn’t want you to be successful in living for the Lord. John 8:44 says, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” The devil will use any way possible to sideline you from going forward for the Lord.

 

It wasn’t like Scott Kregel to give up. He was a battler, a dedicated athlete who spent hour after hour perfecting his free throw and jump shot during the hot summer months of 1987. But just before fall practice everything changed. A serious car accident left Scott in a coma for several days. When he awoke, a long rehabilitation process lay ahead. Like most patients with closed head injuries, Scott balked at doing the slow, tedious work that was required to get him back to normal—things such as stringing beads. What high school junior would enjoy that?

 

Tom Martin, Scott’s basketball coach at the Christian school he attended, had an idea. Coach Martin told Scott that he would reserve a spot on the varsity team for him if he would cooperate with his therapist and show progress in the tasks he was asked to do. Tom’s wife Cindy also spent many hours with Scott, encouraging him to keep going. Within 2 months, Scott was riding off the basketball court on his teammates’ shoulders. He had made nine straight free throws to clinch a triple-overtime league victory.

 

Scott could have lain in bed and accepted the fact that he would be crippled for the rest of his life, but both he and his coach knew that he could recover. He didn’t give in to being hurt; he changed. What sin is keeping you from going forward in your walk with God? What sin do you repeatedly struggle with? You don’t have to live in bondage to that sin! Simply take time right now to ask God to help you with that sin and the temptation it brings. With God’s help, you can overcome this sin and become a stronger Christian!

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