"As it is written: None is righteous, no, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have gone wrong. No one does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12)

Until God acts in our lives to do what is right, we do not have the ability to it. It is God who works in us to please Him. It is God that will draw our unsaved loved ones to Him and it is God who will work in our hearts and in the hearts of those we pray for, to behave the way they should. Until God does this, we will not change because we cannot change. Of course we have our own free will and He will not waste His time with someone who will never respond to Him, but only He can make that judgment. In our own personal lives and the lives of those we know, there are sins and behaviors that are not pleasing to the Lord. Since righteousness does not come from us but from God, He is the One responsible for that change. Until He begins to work in that area of our lives to do what is right, we cannot receive true deliverance.

For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)

Do you struggle with cigarettes, alcohol or drugs (prescription or otherwise)? Does it grieve your heart to know the things you do are not pleasing to the Lord? If your heart is willing to obey Him, then leave it in His hands and don’t worry about it. If we do change on our own apart from God, we are only replacing one habit for another or one ‘crutch’ for another. There is no true deliverance and cleansing. So don’t judge others and don’t allow others to judge you for your short-comings. When we judge, it’s saying that God cannot take care of His own. We don’t know their heart and what they have been through and besides, apart from God, there is no righteousness in any of us.

© Copyright Cheryl Taul
January 12, 2008