12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8)
We always tend to look back. Lot's wife did. The people of Israel in the Exodus did. The rebuilders of the temple did. The good ole' days. Actually, there were not so great. Sin is ensnaring, enslaving, and enbalming. It'll kill ya. When we trust in Christ, we become children of God and sever ties with the family of sin. We are to stop looking back and look forward, to our inheritance with Christ. It will change the way we look at and respond to sin in our lives. We are able to look back at it and shake our heads: "Why did I stay there so long?" We will learn to listen to the Spirit instead of sin, as He keeps moving us forward toward real living. At times, "living" can seem like "suffering", as we pull loose from the old ties and bonds that kept us "comfortable" in our sin, but the further we break loose from them, the more we discover what it is to live in freedom and joy. Live like a child of God today.
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