Beyond the Weekend

February 22 | Sin in Me

February 22, 2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. Titus 3:3

Read: Titus 3:1-9
Listen:
Titus 3

TODAY’S MESSAGE

The Apostle Paul tried hard to follow the rules and do the right thing. Before he came to know Jesus, he was a well-respected Jewish religious leader called a Pharisee. Pharisees were the type of person who copiously followed every religious rule. Despite Paul’s attempts at doing the right thing, he recognized his spiritual death as well as his current temptation to do the wrong thing. Paul writes a letter to a fellow pastor, Titus, to instruct him on how to lead the church. Paul doesn’t only tell Titus how bad Titus used to be, Paul groups himself in with Titus. He recognizes his history. But Paul doesn’t just acknowledge his spiritual death before Jesus, he’s frustrated with the sin he still does (Romans 7:18-20). Paul is comfortable acknowledging how bad he used to be and his current struggles.

We can learn a lot from Paul’s openness and frustration with sin. Our culture tells us to be frustrated with certain things people do that are wrong. In fact, it encourages us to be outraged. But we’re placing our attention on the wrongs of others when Jesus came to rescue us from our sins. He didn’t come so we can be self-righteous and focus on the sins of others. When our culture tells us to cancel, the good news of Jesus reminds us that we were all dead in our sins. Instead of self-righteous anger, the gospel calls us toward empathy and grace. Instead of myopically focusing on the wrongs of others, we humbly confess our sins and ask God to work in us.

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

Spend some time confessing your sins to God. Here are some prompts to help you think through what you may need to confess: things you’ve said, mean thoughts you didn’t say, help you didn’t give, bitterness, anger, lack of forgiveness, lust, envy toward something someone has, wanting someone to fail, happiness when something bad happened to someone else, lack of gratitude, pride or selfishness.


2023 SPIRITUAL PRACTICES

Join us all of 2023 developing a different spiritual practice each month. SPIRITUAL PRACTICES are intentional regular activities to deepen our relationship with God and mold us to be more like Jesus.

February is SABBATH. Keep track of our spiritual practices at beyondtheweekend.org/spiritualpractices.


Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.

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