"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit." Romans 8:5
Without Christ's redeeming blood over us, we would all be irretrievably broken, separated from God. Our sins and hurts would be so vast and wide that nothing could cover them. Jesus died to close that gap for us. For all eternity we can worship God and on earth we can seek his face without shame.
"Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually." 1 Chronicles 16:11
Yes, we are human, sinful, fragile--- we have struggles and burdens. We are "broken" and therefore we need Christ to make us whole. We need God's forgiveness, mercy and love because of our deceitful hearts.
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9
Yet it seems even as Christians we get stuck. Stuck in the brokenness and bondage that Jesus died to heal. Instead of seeking wholeness, we stay in the brokenness. God wants us to seek to be well. Spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically he wants us to be whole. He didn't make his creation without the hope of being whole.
Sometimes being broken seems to be a comfort zone. We don't know what it would mean to be whole. It seems different, frightening, unknown. Our struggles are familiar to us, we don't want to shed them and put on a new skin. We need God to make us whole because we are sinners---but we are not supposed to take a nice hot soak in our brokenness every day. We are then cheapening the blood of Christ that was shed for us.
God's power is shown in making us whole. Healing broken hearts, diseases, family dysfunction, healing bad patterns of thought and bad habits. Can we focus on allowing Him to make us whole? Can we live in the wholeness? Can we run a bubble bath, drain out the broken, put in the bath salts, and soak in the wholeness instead? Seeking to be whole won't feel familiar. It will feel like an uncomfortable new fashion. We will think it doesn't look good on us. But slowly we'll get used to it. To be whole will be our new normal. It will be peaceful and new, it won't grow old or wear out. It isn't a passing fad, it's a classic that will last.
This doesn't mean we will be perfect. We will sin and falter and need the grace and mercy of God to forgive us and cover us every day. What is new is that instead of seeking His mercy while focusing on brokenness, we are seeking His mercy while pursuing being whole.
We cannot set our minds on and dwell on the things of our flesh or we will not become whole. We will block ourselves from progress. When we set our minds and hearts on God and the things of the Holy Spirit, we will find wholeness.
"For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot."
Romans 8:7
To pursue being whole, we must pursue God. This takes prayer, discipline, steadfastness, courage and a willing heart. We must pursue Godly wisdom, and put it on. We must make this wholeness our new outfit. We are throwing out the old, and putting on the new. Put the outfit of wholeness on, dress your heart with it, accessorize your mind with it, put on the shoes of wholeness. This new wholeness now clothes your whole being. How many times do we seek to do better, only to falter back again into our state of brokenness? Many times we are never really diving into being whole. We dip our toe in and it seems too hard. But once we dive in, we start to warm up, we get used to it.
God desires us to live in His state of peace and wholeness. He wants to repair the areas of our minds and hearts that need to be made new. There will be setbacks in life, challenges and tears, but we will still be whole. We won't be taken back to a childish brokenness when we experience a trial in life, we will take it head on with wholeness and a new Godly maturity.
This is God's desire for us as we grow with Him---that each day we put on the robes of being whole and healed.
"In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:13-14
"And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed
us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our
hearts as a guarantee." 2 Corinthians 1: 21-22
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not
sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." 1 John 1: 8-10
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