Behaving Badly

But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwellls; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.  For the goood that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil that I will not to do, that I practice.

Romans 7: 17-19 NKJV 

The  devil made me do it, how often have we used this lame excuse when confronted with our bad behavior?  Would you be surprised that there are no fewer than seven Greek words for sin?  The greek word {Hamartia} is defined as "missing the mark" and is said to encompass the other six definitions.  The greek term Hamartia is, therefore, when we, through our own actions, aim for Gods best but miss the mark.  Well, even though a definition is helpful, it fails to decribe just why we sin.  When I first read Romans 7:18 I felt a sense of relief.  Here was the apostle Paul, a great defender of the faith admitting that he struggled with sin.  This man of God was just like me!  Yet, even though Paul struggled with this imperfection, there is no doubt that he IS a man of God.  Yes, even devout christians can struggle with sins pull.  And we continue to do so.  

Now, we've seen the Greek definition of the word sin as "missing the mark" somehow.  Knowing this, does sin make us a bad person?  Despite being redeemed by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, can a few instances of "missing the mark" put us in bad favor with our loving God who sent his son to die for us?  I'm thinking not.  The fact is, when Jesus died on the cross, WE perished with him!  Not only are our sins of past, present and future forgiven us, but we now have a clean slate in our brand new creation.  

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me."

Galations 2:20 NKJV 

Galations 2:20 assures us of our new identity in Christ Jesus, but there's another thought worth remembering here.  

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27 NKJV 

So, from the begining, we were created in the very image of God.  Ask yourself that million dollar question, was God ever bad?  Now, knowing that you yourself were created in the image of a loving God, were YOU ever bad?  Yes, we may sin, but that does NOT change the fact that we are Gods loved children created in his very image.

~Scott~