I'm a part of the most reckless, irresponsible, self glorifying, blame shifting generations in all of history. We are a kind of people that so often chooses to base our emotional stability and our confidence on the amount of attention we get on either Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Some people treat social media as a personal diary. We share so much with others the very things that we could be sharing with God. We are a generation that focuses on fulfilling our needs through the people around us instead of letting Christ fulfill our very needs and wants. He can do so much through us to reach other people who may be lost, but there are so many of us who don't allow Him in as much as we should. Why am I writing about this? One, I felt led to because of prayer about my writing, and two because this very struggle is something I have fought with my entire life. I'm almost 25, I've been saved for going on 13 years. It's not easy. Completely living for Christ is one of the hardest things I've done; surrendering to His will for my life last year made things both better, but yet more difficult. The devil tries to steal my restored peace daily and continues to tempt me, but I won't let him have any of me ever again. I have a terrible time dealing with needing people, and I just wanted to share a strategy that I have noticed is helping me live a more peaceful, fruitful Christian life. Am I perfect? No. Through my journey the Lord is teaching me so much. I'm thankful for my salvation and the process of sanctification; it is a rough thing to endure at times, but it is beautiful nonetheless. The four part strategy outlines the very core issue at hand: (P)roblems (T)hat (S)in (D)evelop and also the cure, which is what will be discussed tonight: (P)ray for a Purpose, (T)ake Responsibility for You, (S)ay Goodbye to Any Present Sin, (D)on't Look Back, and Don't Go Back. Sin starts small, but so often takes you farther than you want to go, costs more than you want to pay, and the cut of sin's sharp knife goes much deeper than you think it will.
In order to start seeing God move in our lives, we must first pray for a purpose. Everyone needs a reason to get up in the morning. Each soul has a specific purpose on this temporary Earth, but we must be willing to surrender to His call for our life; it won't just fall out of the sky. Tell Him you're sick of the dull life you have, and that you're willing to do what He wants, and not what you want. PRAY FOR A PURPOSE. The silver lining in some of your darkest moments is that you may be placed in the perfect position for Him to use you; your broken state might possibly lead you to a place you never imagined He'd put you. Lean not on your own understanding but on His; acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:6 KJV)
Secondly, you MUST learn to take responsibility for your actions. The easiest thing to do is to shift blame on others for the messes you make. What's easy to do is to pick and choose which commandments you keep. What's easy to do is to profess Christ and have some sin that you think is a secret in your life. It is no secret. God knows all. You can't hide anything from Him. It is so simple to justify our current actions and reactions on our childhoods. I don't think I've met anyone who's just had the perfect picturesque life. Hello, life is hard. Being a human is hard. None of it is easy. True repentance is a great thing, because it brings us back into fellowship with the Lord. Deliverance from sin is possible, you just have to come to Him.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV)
Part of taking full responsibility for our actions is by asking to Lord to begin removing sin that might be taking up valuable space in your life and saying goodbye to it. We all sin. That's a fact. We all have areas in our lives that need worked on. I'm not saying be perfect, because that's impossible. My question is why indulge in the pleasures of this world when you have so many blessings God has for you that you are missing out on simply because your life doesn't bear any fruit? He physically died for you and for me and every soul on this earth... Why wouldn't you want to serve Him?? I'm being a bit bold tonight, but you know what? I don't care. I will NOT be a halfway Christian. There's nothing that brings me more joy than doing what I'm doing right now. Enjoying my house, my family, a closer relationship with Jesus, writing. I hope it leads to more one day. Do I still mess up? Oh yes. However, His grace forever remains greater than my sin.
The last and most crucial part of conquering "PTSD" is to not look back on that part of your life and DO NOT go back to it. What I mean by don't look back, is to not dwell. Yes, remember it. Remember what it taught you, but nothing more nothing less. Don't let the devil drag you back to your past and condemn you over and over. I struggle with this myself and that's one of the reasons why I wrote this....because I know a lot of people do this too. Don't let him steal your present joy by him bringing up something that you and God have already dealt with. Self indulgence is a difficult battle too; if you indulge in pleasing yourself it usually leads to bigger and unhealthier indulgence. The key is temptation denial. Saying no. The hardest but best thing you could do to combat the devil. An easier explained analogy would be that of a no-carb diet. Let's say you go on a diet and have a somewhat reachable goal of a healthier you. Carbs are very bad for your health and you know it. (But that piece of greasy cheesy pizza looks so good right?) You are doing really well, when you are tempted by this pizza and so you indulge. You messed up your diet for the week so you decide to just drop the diet for a week and start back next week. So you indulge more and more and more. Then it gets so bad, you just decide to give up. Diets are hard right? So is the Christian life. It's not something that is meant to be easy. The journey is rough. Don't you dare give up. God won't ever give up on you. Giving Satan the satisfaction and just halfway doing things is what keeps you from seeing any "healthy results" in your life. The best way to restart your life is realize that your "PTSD" can be cured. The cure is Jesus. Let Him turn your mess into a message; it's the best decision I ever made.
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