June 25, 2021 IF A MAN CLEANSE HIMSELF
2 Timothy :20-22 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if a man cleanse himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee youthful lust, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart.”
If there are things in our lives that are not pleasing to the Lord or becoming of a believer, we should cleanse ourselves of these things. In the verses preceding the verses above, Paul list some of the things that believers were to cleanse themselves of. We must be on guard against becoming insensitive to the things about us that should not be-to things displeasing to the Lord. We tend to have the view that “I am who I am” and we do not give a lot of thought about change within ourselves. I recently heard a believer say “I am just an impatient person, and will always be impatient.” I understand what he was saying, but I also understand that one of the fruits of the Spirit is patience, and in many other scriptures we are admonished to be patient. It is a good thing for us on occasion examine ourselves to determine if there are things about us that we should cleanse ourselves from. There is a balance; we should not be consumed with analyzing ourselves or always assuming there are things in my life that should not be there. Some things that we may need to cleanse ourselves from are obvious, and some not so obvious. Throughout the scriptures we are encouraged to lay aside such things as malice, anger, slander, impatience, lying, gossip, selfishness, conceit and pride, wrong thoughts and wrong attitudes, lust, laziness, drunkenness, and etc. The scriptures also tell us the things to put on, such as love, patience, concern for others, forgiveness, kindness, and etc. Change within goes hand and hand with growth and maturing in the faith; we have been transformed and we are being transformed. We should be able to see that we are not who we use to be; we are to be looking more and more like our Father and His Son. God is a merciful God who forgives our sin; He is also holy and righteous. God has made us new creations who have the Spirit of God living in us, enabling us to lay aside anything that is not like Him, and to put on the things that are like Him; only by the power of the Spirit can we cleanse ourselves when we need to do so. As cleansed vessels, we become “useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”
1 Peter 1:15 “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”
2 Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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