It’s very easy in life to be live via our passions. What do I mean by that?

I’m not talking about things like I’ve got a passion for art. Or music. Or the outdoors, or things like that Those are “passions” that enrich our lives, things that give us joy, things we can enjoy with others, things that in many ways, we can see God in.

What do I mean?

It’s easy live to be live via our passions. To lose control of ourselves to our passions of anger. Or greed. Or pride. Or sloth. Or (my favorite) gluttony.

And the thing is, when we are living in these passions, we feel like we are doing what we want! We are in control! We are in charge! We can do whatever it is that we want to do, because it’s our life!

Here’s the thing about that. We aren’t really in control.

When we live a life of anger. Or hate. Or greed. Or lust. Or pride. Or well, a million different passions we struggle with, we are out of control.

We have given control of ourselves to something else. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 6:10-13:

For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Do not let sin reign in your body. Do not give it control.

Now, listen, we are going to make mistakes. We are going to mess us. We are going to fall. That’s the way it goes.

Here’s the thing. Don’t give into that. Don’t be satisfied in that. Don’t feel like that’s alright and good enough.

Don’t allow sin to take control. Don’t allow yourself to be controlled by these passions. Christ died to defeat that.

He died so that He can be in control. So, today, what will control us? Will it be sin? Will it be Jesus?

Today, may we not live out of our passions. May we live, via the grace of God. And may Jesus Christ have control over all our lives!

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