Today I wanted to dig in more to the idea of giving something a name. We can name blessings in our life, but we also need to be prepared to name something else.
God loves us and wants to bless us richly, but so often we let sin get in the way of our experience of that.
God is a God of love, but He is equally a God of justice. He takes sin seriously. He gave us His whole word to inform how to live our lives and how to root out our sin. So while it is very important to remember our blessings, it is equally important to consider our sin. We are not getting a full appreciation of the blessing until we realize how unworthy our sin makes us of that unconditional love.
So today I challenge you to give sin a name in your life.
There are habits in our lives, thought processes, and choices that seem second nature to us. Maybe they are a product of our past. Maybe they are a coping mechanism. We can go about our day not really giving it any thought. It is just the way we operate. It is normal. It is harmless. Or we choose to ignore it all together. But the second we call it what it is… Sin… it has a category, an identity. And we can them choose to turn away from it. To repent of it. To stop giving it its power. It is not that it wasn’t sin before. But now we identify it as sin. And that pushes us to action.
There is power in a name, in a recognition. In a label. And there is danger in apathy. God calls us to be on guard, to be alert. But how many of us just float through life in a haze. Not seeing, not hearing, not engaging. We are not alert. Not aware. Not identifying, and naming, and recognizing. And that is just where the enemy wants us to be. In a haze of distraction with just enough conviction to make our lack of action hypocrisy.
We can read a verse or sit through a sermon, even read an article and full heartedly agree. But somehow there is a disconnect so often in our lives between the things we say we believe and the way we live our life.
We hear calls to caution against certain types of people and behavior, and we look around trying to identify “those people”. The people who lie, or cheat, or steal. Those people who are divisive, or gossips, or greedy. Where are they? Who is it?
I vividly remember a few incidents in my life where my eyes were suddenly opened to major hypocrisy and sin. There were lies I was telling myself about my behavior that I truly believed. Excuses for things I was doing that I had fooled myself into believing were legitimate. So I continued in harmful sin patterns for far too long, because I called it normal. Or “not that bad”. Or justifiable. Or even righteous.
In those times, God in His graced stripped off the mask of those excuses and I saw it for what it was.
Lying, deceiving, gossiping, cheating.
When I gave it a name, I found freedom. It was painful, so painful.
I was not a victim, or just getting by, or “working on things”.
To recognize that you are a liar.
To recognize you are a cheater.
To recognize you are a hypocrite.
That hurts. It cuts to the core.
But when your enemy has a name, it becomes easier to fight. To give it a name, means you know what to look for. You know where to go to fight it. You can ask for specific strategies to defeat it.
There is power in a name.
Most of all, there is power in the ultimate name. The name of Jesus. Who died once and for all to take the punishment for our sin. We can only recognize sin through His Spirit, and we can only fight sin through His power. Because ultimately the punishment for sin (death) has already been conquered by Jesus perfect life and death and resurrection.
So today, I ask you to explore your heart. Really look at that thing that has been poking at you for awhile trying to get your attention. To look it in the face and call it what it is.
Sin: Lies, Greed, Deceit, Lust, Adultary, Idolatry
Say it out loud. Write it down. Tell someone you love.
And then allow God to take it away. Allow God to speak truth into it. Allow God to pry it out of your half open hands.
Victory is near. But first you have to identify your enemy.
Give it a name.