Thanksgiving in Tough Times #7

As we read the letters of Paul to the churches, it becomes immediately obvious that he is not the perfect man writing to perfect people, but rather sincere believers who struggle with sin in their lives. One place we see that clearly is in Romans 6:

16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 

Our struggles against sin in our lives could make us discouraged, hopeless, and asking "what difference does it make?" Paul points out here that a major difference has occurred: through Christ we have been freed from slavery to sin; through the Holy Spirit we can say "yes" to righteous living. As the old saying goes: "I'm not what I should be; I'm not what I shall be, but thank God, I'm not what I used to be." When we have this attitude of gratitude for what God has done, it changes our whole perspective about what He still will do.  Thanks be to God for changing Who we belong to: we belong to Him, and He's still working on us.