Memory Monday

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written "Be holy because I am holy".

1 Peter 1:14-16

Well, my punctuation is off just a bit, but overall I'm pretty close. Memory Monday has become a family affair, and Tracey and Remy have started joining me in learning verses. It is wonderful but makes the task of choosing verses a little trickier, as we want them to be simple for Rem too. This week I put a copy of the 1 Peter verse on our bathroom counter so that I could say it each time we pass. That proved to be a good idea, but there was more than one time when I came out of the bathroom saying the verse to myself, and Trace thought I was mumbling about his ignorance. Poor guy!

Our verse for next week is Romans 6: 22-23. It's kind of a cheat for me and Trace, as we know the second part well, but verse 23 is one that we really want to put into Remy's heart. And of course, it won't hurt us a bit!

But now you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The guy who spoke at our church yesterday mentioned giving something up for lent, and I got to thinking about this as I was reading in Romans and 1 Peter. The concept of pursuing holiness is recurring in both last week's and this week's verses, and being set free from sin is a step in that process. I was praying about the kinds of things that God wants to set me free from, and one major one kept popping up in my mind.

I am a list maker. I make lists constantly for groceries, to-dos, bills, the list is endless. But I realized this weekend that an area of sin in my life is that I keep pretty extensive lists of the ways that I have been wronged. I hold a lot of grudges, especially against people that I love. God has been continually leading me back to 1 Corinthians 13 and what it means to love. I truly want to love my family and friends better, and one way that I can do that is by throwing away the lists and walking out a path of forgiveness and healing. (By the way, I am not just giving this up for lent...)

It has been a pretty rough year for me. I have been dealing with depression and especially bitterness, and I believe that right now God is wanting to help me let go of some of the deep rooted anger that I have allowed to grow in my life. I know that it's not going to be easy, but I have to let him cut away these things in order for my life to begin growing in a healthy direction. So here's to a season of pruning and growth- I think it's a perfect time, especially with spring just around the corner! (Sorry for all of the gardening analogies...)