Sticky Sin

This blog is going to have a strange analogy.  Please don't close your laptop, phone, email, or blogger screen!  The analogy is strange but understandable in the end.  Stick with me (literally)!

This is a bar of winter berry soap.  I love it!  Only problem is this "annoying hair".  It won't come off!  It is stuck on the soap.  However, the past several days, I have been thinking about this hair entanglement.  It struck me that this soap is like my heart.  The hair can compare to sin and bitterness.  Remember, I said "Don't close, continue reading, I'm going somewhere important with this silly analogy!"

My bar of soap is beautifully shaped, but this hair makes it a bit ugly.  It's quite bothersome!  Let's say this hair is my sin/bitterness.  If I want to get rid of this hair I must stick my fingernail into the soap and place dents and bumps in the soap.  This is the only way to get rid of our sin and bitterness, as well.  We must be willing to allow God to dig into our heart, and openly reveal the root of our sin/bitterness.  Some of us have a few strands of hair on our soap, and with some their bar is covered.  The process of allowing God to dig deeper into our soul is painful!  We can pretend the hair isn't there, but who are we fooling?  God definitely sees our sin and bitterness, and the people closest to us as well.  If the hair remains on our soap, over time it will pick up more hair.  And before we know it, our soap is unusable!  Are you getting the picture here?  The longer we refuse to allow God to reveal our sin, and repent, the deeper our sin will render us unusable.  I can still use this soap with a few hairs (although extremely annoying), but once the soap is covered, it becomes useless!

Useless?  I don't want to become useless!  I want God to use me, mold me, renew me, and use me to enhance His kingdom.  Although, I have allowed God to deal with much sin and bitterness from my past.  If I really stop and open my heart to God and other's surrounding me, I can see bitterness sticking to the ventricles of my heart.  The bitterness pops up every once in awhile!  God sees it, other's who know me can see it, and I want God to reveal it to me!  I want to live a life of peace, joy, and wholeness.  God's peace is only possible when we open our heart to allow Him to heal us from the inside out.  

As the Christmas season is upon us, I see much pain, hurt, tension, and contention among believers!  Let's make this the Merriest Christmas, by allowing God to reveal the "hair on our soap" (the bitterness in our heart).  A joyous and peaceful heart is only possible when we openly reveal our sin nature to God.  Allow ourselves to be transparent to God and vulnerable to those He has placed in our paths.  We must stop putting on a play for God and those around us.  God sees through our thespian hearts!  My desire this Christmas is to be open before the Lord, and allow Him to continually teach me His ways.  Hebrews 12:1 & 2  " Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the perfecter of our faith."

My prayer is that this message will encourage you to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ, and allow God to heal your broken relationships, by revealing the root of your sin / bitterness!  May your relationships this Christmas season be full and joyous!