We must be saved from our sins.

Matthew 1:21
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (NIV)

(December 17, 2021)

Think about that word for a moment. We must be saved from our sins. Too often in our spiritual journey, we respond to our sin as if we need to be ‘fixed.’ God needs to repair me we think to ourselves. This is easy to do because the spirit that causes me to sin dwells within me. So when I sin, it feels like it is me that has messed up.

The Apostle Paul says however that it is no longer I who sins, but sin that is living in me.

Sin is not a personal defect. It is not a sign there is something wrong with you. I don’t care how many times you have asked yourself, “What’s wrong with me?” You don’t need to be fixed like a broken toy. You need to be rescued.

Our hearts have been taken hostage by the Seed of the Serpent. We are born with the sinful nature already alive and well in us. But this sinful nature is not who you are. If the sin you commit was who you were, then there would be no hope of doing anything good. If your whole nature was sinful, then you would only be sinful. But even the worst of us is able to do good and to love others from time to time.

The sin in me holds my true self hostage keeping me from living life as I was created to live. It is Jesus Christ who saves me, sets me free, rescues me from the grip of sin, the power of death.

I pray this sinks down into someone’s spirit today. You are not broken. You never were. You have been held hostage by a foreign entity that God did not put in you. It has been inherited from Adam, but it is not how God made you.

When the movement of my mind is that I must fix myself, I will inevitably condemn myself for being broken. But when I understand I am not broken, but held hostage, I will turn my eyes to the Lord, my Rescuer. He will set me free.

Prayer: Lord, help me to stop over-criticizing myself, beating myself up, and tearing myself down because of my sin. Help me to lift my eyes to You for You will rescue me. Amen.