March 2nd
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. 1 Corinthians 2:5 NIV
There are many places our faith can rest. Our human nature often seems to cause us to place our faith in things we can see and touch. Things like technology, wealth or power can easily become faith bases for us. Since we can’t see God, we may find it difficult to rest our faith fully in him.
The battle for freedom from sexual addictions will likely test our faith enormously. If God is not the main object of our faith, we’ll have trouble reaching the freedom that God has prepared for us. A common problem is that sex addicts fall into condemnation from repeated failures and don’t feel worthy to approach God. They then try to resist temptations without calling on God for help. They latch onto any resource they can to help them overcome the temptations. Things like support groups, self-help courses, accountability partners and software filters can become the things that we are trusting in to bring our freedom instead of God. Those sources are not bad, but they have limited power to bring true freedom. They should be tools to help us along the way, but not the objects of our faith.
God has unlimited power and it is he that we should be resting our faith in. As David wrote, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7 NIV). God provided a much better way for people to put sinful addictions to death. He provided the forgiveness for our sin through Jesus and he provides the power we need through the Holy Spirit. Our faith in God releases that power to accomplish the deliverance and healing in us.
Our part is to cooperate with the Spirit and to diligently seek God daily. If we’ve allowed condemnation and shame to separate us from God, we first need to confess, repent and reconnect with God. As you reaffirm your faith in God through your daily walk, he will move inside you and change you as you. He will “empower” you with the ability to resist the temptations that up to now have seemed irresistible.
Questions for further thought:
What did Paul not want the Corinthians to base their faith on?
What evidence do we have to strengthen our faith in an invisible God?
What things can we do to shore up our faith?
Prayer:
“Lord God, Thank you for redeeming me from sin and making the power I need available through the Holy Spirit. Please forgive me for trusting in anything other than you as the main source of power for freedom. I put my trust in you today and commit myself to diligently seeking you each day. Please help me overcome any unbelief I may have. Thank you, Lord! In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.”