D0194

A sharing by Helen Chang for this song:

In my younger days I used to think crimes and evil deeds were actions that only those evil people would commit. But as I grew I came to realise that no one was born a thief but that the person may have been longing for what he didn’t have or, perhaps, was in need of something that he could not afford to get. So slowly yet surely he felt that he had to get that something by hook or by crook. If he should start to steal something and got away from the appropriate punishment, would he not likely find it less intimidating to do it again? Could this not be the way how those who committed the crime in The Great Train Robbery came into being (in 1963 in the UK)?

In a similar way, I wasn’t born to hate my father but that thoughts of being disregarded let alone being unloved by him gradually filled my heart with such self-justification that I felt the problem was entirely his fault!

Then as I read James 1:14-15 again and again, it dawned on me that it was my own desire in wishing for what I didn’t have (or I didn’t have enough to convince me that, in fact, I did have some but not as much as I had expected) that allowed grumblings to grow in me and in time, they got out of proportion and ended up in hatred. It was only by the conviction of God’s Spirit that I eventually repented and the relationship with my father was made new.

Ever since such a specific dealing of God in my life, I began to know the importance of submitting my thoughts and wishes to His Spirit so that I would be sensitive to what is not pleasing and acceptable to Him. The sooner I turned away from such thoughts, the more readily I would be filled with thoughts in line with His holy character.

As time passed, I began to experience the gentle power of His character in various ways: how His goodness could overcome evil, His light could overcome darkness and His holiness could overcome sin, beginning with my own life and then also as a witness to others around me.

So let us be quick to turn away from any tendency to sin so that His holy character could live through us to help others overcome sin also!