02 November 2011

Defeat in Victory

My brother Eric--
I was talking with a brother struggling with sin once. He told me he had managed to resist temptation the night before. "Good!" I said. "But whether you gave in or not, are you still able, looking beyond yourself, to rejoice in Christ's perfect obedience on your behalf?" He hung his head. That was a more difficult question--even more difficult than resisting temptation.

If a Christian resists temptation and then focuses on their victory, is pleased with it, and the joy of it carries them onward--that may be a defeat at a deeper level.

2 comments:

Mike Berttucci said...

that is a very helpful question!

sonlit4him said...

The victory is not "their victory", the victory belongs to Christ. I think we should rejoice in Christ's victories daily as well as His perfect obedience on our behalf. We should also mourn over our sin and when we make provisions for our flesh.