Proverbs 12-15

He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.

The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

We have full freedom in Christ Jesus by accepting him as our Lord and savior. Or more precisely, we CAN have full freedom. IF we allow him to discipline us and if we humbly heed his correction at every moment of our day.

I was reminded again how so many of us do not experience this freedom, because we despise discipline. The world tells us that freedom is being able to do whatever we want to when we want to. And that freedom is the ability to live according to our own desires. Many of us have lived with this mindset for so long, that we don't realize that we really don't have any freedom at all. We are enslaved by our sinful desires.

We can't help but to sin. This is a horrible example, but it reminds me of a documentary I saw about a Catholic priest who spent a life time molesting children. He would go to confession, but would go right back to his fleshly desires. And ruined many many lives because of it.

We all experience some sort of reoccurring sin in our lives. We can feel bad about it, say to God we want to change, but most of us don't change because we are not willing to be disciplined by God. It's so much easier to give into sin than to fearfully humbling ourselves before God every time we feel the desire to sin.

If we are truly born again, we have the power in Jesus to be released from our fleshly desires. But this is not a one time thing or a weekly confession we do at church. It is a continuous process. If we still find ourselves going in circles from reoccurring sin in our lives, it can only mean that we don't really want to be released.

Let's strive to live a victorious life in Jesus. Allow God to discipline us so we are changed from glory to glory to the likeness of Jesus. We who despise discipline truly despise ourselves. Why live in slavery when we can live in full freedom by the power and grace of God that loves us?