Without God

Have you ever thought that without God we are everything we despise?

If God is who He says He is than He is the definition of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

Can you imagine being without any God-given qualities? What if you were devoid of love. You had never experienced joy. You were never at peace. You were impatient at all times. There was never a time that you were kind to your neighbors. You were not a good person. You didn't have faith in God, let alone anyone else. You were rough instead of gentle with people. You never exercised self control, but instead lashed out at any and everyone and gave into temptation always.

Everything that makes you glow, that makes you beautiful, that makes you who you are - gone.

See, when we let God take over our lives, God doesn't just give us salvation, He gives us a new self. Our hearts are replaced with God's and we become like puppets.

If we were without God, our lives would be a blank. No purpose and no direction. Searching mindlessly for something to fill us, we would be overcome with sin and the world. We would be destroyed from the inside out. We would live a painful life and go on to live a painful eternity.

But the reality is that we have God. We have a God who loved us in our brokenness and gave us a part of His own heart. So that instead of hating we can love. Instead of being overcome with sadness, we can be overcome with joy. Instead of being anxious, we can be at peace. Instead of demanding immediate answers, we can be patient. Instead of being cruel to those around us, we can be kind. Instead of being inherently bad, we can be inherently good. Instead of relying on ourselves, we can have faith in God. Instead of acting roughly and inconsiderately around others, we can be gentle and graceful. Instead of falling into temptation, we can exercise self control.

But if our heart has been replaced with God's, how come we still hate? How come we're still overcome with sadness? How come we're still anxious? How come we still demand answers? How come we're still cruel, we're still bad, we still rely on ourselves, act inconsiderately, and fall for temptation?

Yes, God replaced our hearts with His, but that heart is still in a body of the world. The heart is the epicenter of the body, it provides the rest with life. But even the heart cannot erase all the effects of a diseased body. Our bodies are diseased, but God's heart is fighting back. But unless we force our worldly bodies to fight with it, it cannot win.

God's heart has replaced yours. The question is: are you willing to fight alongside it to cure the disease of the flesh?