My "Life of Sin" Testimony

But I see another law in my members, warrign against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivitiy to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Romans 7:23-24

From 1983-1985, when Mark and I were raising our support to go as missionaries to Liberia, we did a lot of traveling around the United States. And there are only so many things you can talk about in the car hour and after hour, headed to yet another church to show the same slide show and share the same testimonies.

We were convinced that our testimonies were doing nothing to further our fund-raising efforts. They were so boring! Raised in Christian homes, busy in church activities, Bible College educations, etc., etc., etc.  So, to entertain ourselves as we traveled, we would make up "life of sin" stories. And we would pretend when we arrived at the next church we would tell these new stories, which were much more interesting than the truth. 

Many years later, after God had done an amazing work in my life and taught me so much about Himself and about me, I had a startling thought. Out of the blue one day I realized that, without really knowing it, I had a very real "life of sin" story! While I, in my pride, had thought of my sin as relatively mild, God never saw it as that. 

I love what theologian Oswald Chambers says about it in My Utmost for His Highest. Although his primary context is coming to God for salvation, I believe it applies to an older believer as well. 

The greatest spiritual blessing we receive is when we come to the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us as long as we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We must enter into His kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are “rich,” particularly in the area of pride or independence, God can do nothing for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the essential nature of God is placed and made effective in us by the Holy Spirit. He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, making us truly alive. He takes that which was “beyond” us and places it “within” us. And immediately, once “the beyond” has come “within,” it rises up to “the above,” and we are lifted into the kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns. 

I am so thankful that my "life of sin" story has such a happy ending. God showed me both my poverty and His power. What an adventure it has been!

See The Upside of Suffering.
See The Best Borrower Ever.