Cleansed from the Inside Out - Matthew 23 Blog
Just spent some time reading in Matthew 23 during my Time Alone With God (TAWG), and WOW, this chapter is super rough! Throughout this whole chapter Jesus is calling out the teachers of the law and the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and I can only imagine how upset, embarrassed, and convicted they must have felt. In today’s blog we are going to dive into some scripture where Jesus is sharing how one can avoid being a hypocrite. Let’s take a look at that section of scripture now and see how we can apply it to our lives.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” (Matthew 23:25-26). Wow!!! First of all, I can’t imagine just cleaning the outside of a cup or dish and not the inside… it would be pretty disgusting to drink or eat out of that dirty dishware. That being said, how much more important is my own body… to make sure that I am first clean on the inside? So often we can avoid or push off taking the necessary steps to make sure that we are cleansed on the inside.
Dishes get dirty on the inside and the outside, and so do people. What exactly do I mean by this? To put it simply, life circumstances can get tough/stressful, and if we aren’t careful we turn to sin in order to try to feel better, rather than turning to Jesus (The Answer). The sin dirties up our insides and grieves the Holy Spirit that dwells within us (Christians). While living in our ‘secret’ sin, we can make it appear to others as if we are doing fantastic by looking ‘clean’ and put together on the outside. Reality, Jesus is the only One that can truly cleanse us on the inside (from our sin) and that cleansing needs to become our number one (immediate) priority if we should ever slip into sin. Once the Lord cleanses you from the inside, you will notice a massive weight is lifted from you, and relief and joy will show for you on the outside.
In conclusion, if you are currently struggling with a sin, or with guilt, shame, anxiety, depression, worry, etc., then I encourage you to fall to your knees in prayer at this very moment. Don’t waste another second as your freedom from all of these things is in Jesus. Truth be told, Jesus is right there with you at this very moment, and He is waiting with arms wide open to take any and all burdens from you. He loves you so much and His desire is to see you walking in the fullness of all that He has created for you to do. He has such an amazing plan for you, but you can’t walk in that plan if you don’t let him take those burdens from you. Trust Him, and give it ALL to Him. He won’t let you down… His Word says that ‘He will never leave you, nor forsake you.’ YOU’VE GOT THIS… YOU CAN DO THIS!!! :) Thank you so much for reading today’s blog! Be sure to come back next Wednesday, 7/24/19 to catch my TAWG Blog on Matthew 24. :)
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