The first verse that has really stood out to me is Genesis 4:7: "You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy, and you must subdue it." (the New Living Translation)--especially this part: "You must subdue it!"
That says that it is up to me to take control of how I live my life--whether I choose to respond to hard things "correctly" (as pleases God) or "incorrectly" (as pleases me in the heat of the moment, but displeases God). It says that if I respond incorrectly, "sin is waiting to attack and destroy." Is that really what I want? If that's not what I want, then I am responsible to subdue what comes "natural" to me (In Genesis 8:21 it says: "...people's thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood."), and choose to please God rather than follow my own natural instincts. That's really hard to do!
We begin life simply following our own natural instincts. The role of parents is to train children to learn right from wrong, and to develop the habit of choosing to do right. The life of a child is much more peaceful when he/she makes the right choices. That fact of life never changes. As adults we must continue to make right choices, responding correctly in the hard things--even when it doesn't come naturally!
The start of a new year is a great time to start learning to do this. It's not just a matter of asking God to help us, although that is a must. It's also a matter of taking personal responsibility for our responses--a choice to make. It's a matter of subduing (choosing to control) our natural instincts because God expects us to and empowers us to do that!
That is a worthy goal to aim for, and a great way to live! Woohoo for a fresh new start and a clean slate to try again!
Remember: every day is a new beginning!
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