by Pastor Rich Carlson

His gifts of grace and forgiveness are what motivates me to respond to God with joyful obedience. How can I slap Jesus in the face by choosing to continue in sin after all He has done for me. I still remember that I am a sinner with a sinful nature, fully capable of making mistakes, but I make a conscious decision to follow what God clearly shows me in the Bible. As Jesus died for my sins, Paul says I must die from my sins. Dead people can’t sin! And Jesus offers, in Romans 6:11-13, the chance to be "dead" to sins:
• "Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus"—it’s a mental attitude.
• "Do not let sinful desires reign in your mortal body" (author’s paraphrase)—where my thoughts are controlled.
• "Do not offer the parts of your body to sin"—and my actions are controlled.
• "As those who have been brought from death to life"—with a positive attitude.
• "And offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness"—and positive actions.

I need to decide that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are sufficient for my focus in life. I choose to be grateful for what He has done and what He has promised. So I decide to stop things where they begin, in my mind, in my thoughts, in my heart, the seat of my emotions. And from there I decide to control anything I can in my life and its surroundings and not to allow any part of me to be influenced toward sin. It’s a choice I have to make before it comes or my weak sinful nature will probably win out. Remember Daniel? He "purposed in his heart" or he decided ahead of time in a conscious mental decision (Dan. 1:8).

And I believe I retain that focus by not dwelling on just overcoming or stopping the bad, but with a positive attitude about what God has offered me through Jesus. I focus on doing good. Positive actions provide the fuel for victorious living in Jesus!

I should be dead, according to Romans 6:23, but Jesus died for me. That gives me the chance to die to sins and live for Him while I wait for the rest of this verse to be fulfilled—the gift of eternal life—which is again from Jesus. Positive attitudes and positive actions destroy doubt and defeat sin.

Rich Carlson is campus chaplain at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. “God Is Faithful” is adapted from the email devotionals he writes regularly for the Union College family. Rich enjoys filling his life with God, his family, and especially his five grandchildren.