One of the dumber things I do on a regular basis is decide to make a recipe I’ve never made before for a large group of people. I am, apparently, blessed with both an unshakable and unfounded confidence in my own cooking ability.

Does it ever turn out well?

No?

Do I convince myself that this time it will turn out amazing?

Yes.

Am I always dead wrong?

Yes, again.

Some things never change.

I am who I am, I guess.

I love to tell a good joke but I’ll settle for a bad one.

I love all animals but I am, most decidedly, a cat person.

I will choose steak over chicken every time.

I can kick higher than you think.

Music speaks to me on a soul-level.

I adore a good book but if the writing isn’t true to life it’s over for me.

I love stories.

I deeply value truth.

In the summer, it’s mornings outside with coffee.

In the winter, mornings by the fire with…coffee.

I like coffee.

Being surrounded by God’s creation brings me life and peace.

I love to laugh.

These personality traits have been with me since I was small. Ok, I didn’t drink coffee then but I still liked being cozy.

I also have traits I’m not overly fond of:

I’m overstimulated easily and that can lead to a desperate, urgent need to disengage.

I get anxious about things other people don’t. Do NOT ask me to go somewhere if I’ll have to parallel-park.

I snack when I’m bored.

I am super awkward with people I don’t feel comfortable with. And I know it. And they know it. And we know it together.

I could be a lot more careful with my words. I’ve learned the hard way that people don’t always need to know my opinion about everything! I have hurt some relationships this way, and I hate that.

I am spontaneous if it’s my idea, but don’t even think about changing plans on me!

I don’t let go of offense easily.

Sometimes I cuss at Bible study.

Not all sin, but not all not sin, if you know what I’m saying. Limitations are one thing, but harboring a grudge against a seventy-year old Publix employee? A story for another day.

I’m not sure why I was surprised as we were packing up the snack table after Bible study this past Tuesday when I noticed the center of my sausage-cheese bread spiral loaf (from Make It and Take It! Volume 3) was definitely doughy. As in, not cooked all the way through. As in, inedible. Once again, I had tried my hand at a new recipe and guinea-pigged an entire roomful of unsuspecting victims, and once again I had failed. Publicly.

That one little word flew out before I could catch it, catching both me and my friend Angie off guard.

Did I mention another thing I hate is failing publicly?

Whoops.

I am who I am, right?

Yes and no.

Two things are true here:

God delights in us and made each of us on purpose for a purpose.

Also, we are all really jacked up by sin.

So, what are we to do?

We could get really discouraged and focus on all the ways we mess up on a daily (ok, hourly) basis, knowing we will never be as good of Christians as we’d like to be.

We could just say, “God made me this way!”, get cozy with our sin, and hope the good outweighs the bad.

Neither of these are going to work in our favor.

Thankfully, we’re not alone here.

Paul says this in Romans 7:21-25:

I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. ²³ But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

So what’s our encouragement?

It’s in Romans 8, which opens by telling us that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Woohoo! Check out verses 9-14 (underline mine):

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Do you see the both/and here? We will war against our flesh until the day we see Jesus face to face. But we do not have to be controlled by it! God can and will help us every step of the way if we are surrendered to him! We can see progress and victory over our sin.

I see it in my own life. Everyday, I aim to live in a way that is pleasing to God. Do I get it right all the time? Heck, no. But the evidence of the Holy Spirit is there! I can look back through the years and see a big change: not in my core personality (you’re welcome) but in the very desire to do what God wants me to do! By his power, my positive qualities are shined up and leveraged for his glory, and on the flip side, God has given me a hatred for my sin that wasn’t there before. My mouth just isn’t comfortable with profanity like it once was. And I thank him that even though I still struggle with big feelings sometimes, I am able to give them to him and treat other people with kindness and compassion, even when my flesh doesn’t feel like it.

Such good news.

I am who I am.

You are who you are.

But our sin doesn’t get to be our identity anymore.

In Christ, the great I AM, who we are first and foremost is His.

I’m still not parallel-parking, though.

Ang

 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. -Philippians 1:4-6

God changes people

Still playing pranks on my husband

Still accidentally said a cuss word when my bread wasn’t baked through

Prayer changes: What I want God to do..what God wants me to do

Ruth left her idol worshiping people and culture to follow God and ended up being a grandmother of Jesus