February 27, 2023 - Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭5‬-‭8

“But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.” Romans 2:5-8 NLT

Lord, please forgive us for our stubbornness. We want to have soft and willing hearts that obey all you ask of us. We know that sin closes the door to seeing your presence in our lives, as well as breaks your heart. We want to be people who long to do good and follow in your ways. We don’t want to stubbornly hang on to our sinful ways, but willingly surrender them. We want to allow you to freely work in us to uproot them from our lives. We invite you to constantly examine our hearts and if you find anything that doesn’t reflect your ways, open our eyes to it. We give you permission to do what’s needed to remove it from our lives. We need your help to live in your kingdom’s ways. You are a just God and one day every action that we do will be judged. We praise you for your blood that covers our sins, but we don’t ever want to choose to walk in sin knowing we can ask forgiveness later. Please convict us if we ever have that attitude. Give us a hatred for sin in our lives and an overwhelming desire to walk in righteousness.

Lord, we want our lives to reflect your holiness. We don’t want to see anyone perish and face your wrath because they didn’t have a chance to see you for who you really are. We want the world to see you in us and be drawn to what they see. Make yourself known through us.

In Jesus name, amen.