The impact of God's Word in our life is my big lesson learned in 2018.

The impact of God's Word in our life is my big lesson learned in 2018.
  • God's word washes temptation to sin from us. Psalm 119:9-11
  • God's word heals us. - Proverbs 3:8, 4:20-22

Ironically this is something that I have seen mentioned many places in the Bible for decades but had not seen in my day to day life. While in college I had memorized Bible verses like Psalm 119: 9 &11 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” God's word washes away sin's enticement. I also just heard a speaker point out that it heals us and meets our needs for physical provision. So now I am wondering what else God's Word does. But let me back up and summarize the last couple of years for you.

About four years ago we changed churches and started attending a more Bible-believing church. It is interesting that our old church said they believed the Bible but in practice, they avoided talking about certain topics or dismissed them. Having been in that church environment for 20 years it was hard to realize this unless you read the Bible for yourself and exposing yourself to outside voices from books, radio, podcast, or outside conference speakers. Early this year I realized that I had much-reduced temptations to sin as compared to several years ago but didn't have an explanation for how I got to that improved state. I was thinking that I would like to be able to pass on this success to a young person and save them decades of struggling with sin but I didn't have an explanation. So the conversation would have gone like this “You struggle for decades and then somehow you achieve victory.” That would not be encouraging.

I mentioned my search for an explanation to my son and he encouraged me to read a book called Eyes of Honor by Jonathan Welton. The book's focus is helping men overcome sexual temptation. However, the principles are applicable to both men and women and lead to overcoming all areas of temptation. So I was eagerly reading through this book and was surprised to find that his recommendation was so basic and yet revolutionary. My summary is that God's word changes you from the inside out. Typically people try external things like setting alarms, getting rid of problem materials, or similar external physical steps to try and overcome “life-controlling problems” but those normally have limited success.

There is more that could be said but I think this captures the essence of my big lesson learned in 2018.


12/2018 by Andrew Willis

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