fit<\/em> category, me included. From infancy, people had told me the story of Jesus dying on the cross. How could they not? My dad was a preacher, which meant Mom and I went to church every time the doors opened. But hearing just meant I knew some Bible stories.<\/p>\nGrowing pains<\/h2>\n
A few months before my ninth birthday, Dad took me into his home office and told me why I needed to follow Jesus as my Savior. I understood \u2014 and decided I would.<\/p>\n
Things progressed well, until I hit middle school. That\u2019s when things changed. Not all my friends followed Jesus in my new school. Nor did they make any effort to obey all the commands my parents had taught me to obey. They pressured me to follow suit, but I stood strong. Then adolescence took over.<\/p>\n
My fourteenth birthday brought more changes. By this time, I had decided I wanted to delve into some of that behavior and those attitudes my middle school friends had invited me to indulge in. Now I was in another school with a much rougher crowd. I had only two or three friends who traveled the way my parents and church taught me to go. I chose the wrong path.<\/p>\n
High school was a blur. Still is. I continued going to church; I had no choice. And I even kept reading my Bible and saying my prayers. But the fits caught me, and the starts became almost nonexistent. Occasionally, I\u2019d feel bad about the things I did, but God\u2019s still small voice grew stiller and quieter.<\/p>\n
Finally, in my mid-twenties, I tired of the fits and decided to start \u2014 again. Of course, God hadn\u2019t left me. I had moved, and, as always, He waited for me to come back. When I did, I discovered open arms, forgiveness, and second chances.<\/p>\n
Good company<\/h2>\n
I wish I could say my journey from then to now has been consistent starts, but it hasn\u2019t. Yet I feel as if I\u2019m in good company. The greatest missionary who ever lived said, \u201cI don\u2019t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don\u2019t do it. Instead, I do what I hate\u201d (Romans 7:15).<\/p>\n
Many Bible scholars believe that Paul\u2019s words reflect his personal experiences after he met the risen Christ on the Damascus Road, not before. Which is significant. If Paul was speaking of afterward, then his life as an apostle was also characterized by fits and starts. Although he took the gospel message to the known world, Paul didn\u2019t always trust, didn\u2019t always get it right, and didn\u2019t always obey. Still, God used him through the fits.<\/p>\n
The theological word for the process of fits and starts is sanctification<\/em>. As Paul taught, it is not a process we can do by ourselves; sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit in us (Romans 8:1, 2; 15:16; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 2\u202fThessalonians 2:13). Two important elements go along with the word and its meaning.<\/p>\nElements<\/h2>\n
Sanctification isn\u2019t automatic; it requires our participation. In fact, if we don\u2019t put in any effort \u2014 if we don\u2019t walk in the Spirit \u2014 we\u2019ll find ourselves doing more fits than starts (Galatians 5:16). The writer of Hebrews alluded to this when he wrote, \u201cYou have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God\u2019s word.\u00a0You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food\u201d (Hebrews 5:12).<\/p>\n
This Spirit-led process begins the moment we choose to follow Christ and continues throughout our lifetime until we draw our final breath, or until Christ returns, whichever comes first. Paul writes of progression sanctification: \u201cFinally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more\u201d (1 Thessalonians 4:1; cf. vv. 2-10).<\/p>\n
While we may not arrive at perfection this side of Christ\u2019s coming, there should never come a time when we stop striving to grow spiritually, to know more about God and His ways, and to get closer to Him.<\/p>\n
Unbelief is the only sin God won\u2019t \u2014 and can\u2019t \u2014 forgive. Christians don\u2019t have to worry about committing it, because we have already believed. Satan would love nothing better than to convince us our fits have disqualified us from God\u2019s service. Our place is on the shelf. Our service is over. We\u2019re a failure. Such messages never come from God. On the contrary, John encourages us, \u201cMy dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous\u201d (1 John 2:1).<\/p>\n
When we choose to follow Christ, He clothes us in Christ\u2019s righteousness and forgives all our sins. Our part is to confess and start \u2014 and keep starting in spite of the fits.<\/p>\n
So, don\u2019t let the fits get you down. They are a part of our fallen nature and of the journey. With the Spirit\u2019s leading, you can enjoy more starts than fits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For a long time, I committed more \u201cfits\u201d than \u201cstarts.\u201d For those not familiar with the idiom \u201cfits and starts,\u201d it refers to irregular intervals of action and inaction, as in \u201cHis presidential campaign is proceeding by fits and starts.\u201d The expression began in the late 1500s with \u201cas by fits.\u201d The noun fit meant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1559,"featured_media":26686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,1602],"tags":[798,1111,210,87,1653,1655,891,1654,252,1656,186],"yoast_head":"\n
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