February 6, 2025

From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God
15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were transferred to, 18 and having been liberated from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 I am using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to moral impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification.

Sarah Ricciardi
I grew up in the Free Methodist Church (they immerse in baptism, unlike United Methodists). One thing I learned early was the power of the Holy Spirit to sanctify believers, making us more like Christ. As adults, I fear that sometimes we want to stuff the Holy Spirit into a box. He feels unpredictable and, dare we say, dangerous.
I like stability as much as the next person, so this reminder is for me, too. The beauty of the Holy Spirit is that He enables us to live and breathe this relationship with God moment by moment. He’s not predictable, yet He is faithful. How many times in Scripture do we read God calling His children to do “crazy” things. Those crazy things write some of the most exciting narratives. They reveal God’s power and goodness in ways that the status quo simply snuffs out. I wasn’t a popular teenager. I was the safe friend you wanted to call when you were sad, or hurt, or experiencing girl drama. But I wasn’t the one you chose to hang out with all the time. Know why I am so thankful for that? It taught me to lean into Jesus more than people, to pursue Him first and most, to give the Holy Spirit room to work. It brought a sweetness to my young adult years that I will never forget, often causing ripple effects in my plans that have had eternal consequences. (Let’s meet over coffee, if you want to hear some examples.) God’s faithful that way, to meet our grief with gulps of Him so huge they stick. Those gulps woo us to obedience, if we let them. What are you finding hard to swallow right now? Could God be calling you to something different?