Romans 2:4,5

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. Romans 2:4,5 ESV


"Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience"

presume: to think against, to despise

As we have seen in the last few verses, Paul has been attacking the self-righteous attitude of many of the Jews of his day. Many of us, as Christians, battle this same attitude today. Here, Paul is describing the natural tendency of a self-righteous attitude to despise the fact that God freely pours out His riches of kindness, forbearance, and patience. First, what does self-righteous actually mean?

righteous: morally right, justifiable, acting in a moral or upright way.  So, self-righteous means be confident in ones own ability to act in a moral, justifiable, or upright way.

Those who think they are accepted by God based on their own moral or justifiable acts look down on or despise the fact that God pours out His riches on those who don't "measure up."

The fact is, according to Romans 2:11, God shows no partiality. This is the last thing that a person who spends all their time attempting to better their standing with God through action wants to hear. Jealousy and bitterness begin to take over...sound like anyone that Jesus described?

The Prodigal Son - Luke 15:11-32

Jesus' parable of the prodigal son describes perfectly the effects of a self-righteous mindset. The father was overjoyed when his son came back from a life of sin and waste, but who wasn't so happy to see his father's reaction...who "despised the riches of his fathers kindness, forbearance, and patience"?  The older brother was absolutely angry at how his father accepted the younger brother back into the family, to the point that he wouldn't even attend the celebration. The older brother was caught up in the self-righteous mindset that he deserved more based on his choices.

What does the father say to the older son at the end of the parable:

It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'

This is the awesome fact about God's love...we cannot earn it! He loves us not because of what we do or have done, but in spite of all that we have done and continue to do...we need to wrap our minds around this. 



"not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance"

This is a very important part of the puzzle that self-righteous people miss. The reason that God pours out His riches of kindness, forbearance, and patience is to lead us sinners - including those with a judgmental attitude - to repent for these sins. As we cry out to God, He will reveal our sinfulness to us, and give us the strength to overcome...He loves us and wants us to be as close to Him as possible.


But...how do most stubborn people react?

"But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed."

When someone believes that their standing with God is based on how good they can live their life, and then spends years attempting to live this "good" life, convincing themselves that everything they do right gives them a better chance of getting into heaven - the hardest thing to do is let go of all of that and realize the sinfulness of not trusting in God's finished work alone.

Repenting for the sin of self-righteousness is one of the hardest and most humbling processes.

I believe that is why Paul warns us by revealing that most people who freely judge others will refuse to repent because of their hard hearts. This should cause us as God's children to examine ourselves, to make sure that we are not guilty of a judgmental spirit that can lead to a hardening of the heart. 

While it is possible for any one of us to act in a self-righteous or judgmental way, it is a different and more serious issue to maintain this way of thinking - this attitude - as a lifestyle that becomes who a person is. This is exactly the same as refusing to turn away from any other sin - and we are warned over and over in God's word what a life of sin without remorse indicates. 

You will recognize them by their fruits Ma4 7:16

Those that refuse repent of their sinful fruit are as a result storing up wrath for themselves on the day of judgement.

As God's children, lets  "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance." Mat 3:8. Ask God to reveal to each one of us if and when we are guilty of a judgemental spirit, so that we can deal with it and become more effective at the task we are called to do - sharing the gospel!

Please share any insight you may have on these verses! 

Next post: 1.2.13 - Everyone have a happy and safe New Years!

NOTE: For an amazing and in depth study on the parable of the prodigal son, I highly recommend Tim Kellers "The Prodigal God.

Romans 2:3

Do you suppose, O man--you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself--that you will escape the judgment of God? Romans 2:3 ESV

After spending a substantial amount of time describing mankind in his natural lost state at the end of Chapter 1, Paul in Chapter 2 is again and again warning those who in their self-righteous state think it ok to judge others.

Do you suppose, O man--you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself...

In Paul's day, the people being addressed here were the self-righteous Jews, who thought they were saved based on their traditions and the fact that they were Jews. While this doesn't apply perfectly to all of us today, I think we are very susceptible to falling into the same trap of self righteousness if we are not careful.

The danger here is that the only way to justify judging others for their sin is to downplay or ignore the sin in our lives, which is most likely based in the same root sin of pride and self love. Downplaying or ignoring sin in our lives is a very serious issue, doing so automatically downplays the need for a Savior, and the need to cling to Him and Him alone.



Judgement vs. Discernment

Judgement...
While we are warned not to judge others, we must be able to discern true believers from false imitators within the Church of Christ, without being guilty of a judgmental spirit. In 1 Cor 4:3,4 Paul explains that he is not held accountable to the judgement of any human.

But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.  For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 

This is true of all of us, we are not to judge or condemn anyone - nor are we judged by any but God.
 

Discernment...
Then, in 1 Cor 5:12,13 Paul explains the importance of keeping the church pure of false teachers and those who only "profess" to be Christains.

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you."

It's very clear that we are not to judge those outside the church, yet we are not to allow those who live in opposition to the bible while claiming the name of Christ to go on this way within the Church.


What does this mean?

We know that Scripture does not contradict itself, so how do we combine these two passages, and how do they relate to Romans 2:3?

This is my thought:
It is our responsibility, as stewards, to keep the Church of Christ as pure as possible - by trusting in God's Word, the Holy Bible as our guide.  We cannot judge our fellow brothers based on our personal convictions, and we cannot judge our brother for waging war against any particular sin. However, we must address any situation where sin is openly and freely committed, without any remorse - this lifestyle either indicates an usaved soul which must be exposed (for their good as well as the church), or this is a poor saved soul who is in deep need of loving support and prayer. Either way, this situation must be dealt with.


 ...that you will escape the judgment of God...

Paul finishes the sentence in verse 3 by asking if those guilty are under the impression that they will escape the judgement of God. It's important to have a healthy, respectful fear of God -  knowing that His judgement is perfectly just...and none will escape it. Only by the blood of Christ, and His righteousness, will we be found not guilty. If we look at ourselves with this mindset, we can deal a mighty blow to the sin of self-righteousness. It's hard to be self righteous when we spend time meditating on the fact that we are just as guilty as the next guy...apart from God's amazing grace!


Instead of focusing on others shortcomings, or how other Christians act, talk, or dress...let's spend every bit of energy we have showing God's awesome love, mercy, and grace to all that we come into contact with. Let God's light cut through the darkness...and as the darkness flees and true hearts are revealed...maybe, just maybe, others will see their need for Jesus Christ as their Savior!


I would love to hear others thoughts on this verse, as well as how all of this fits together in the big picture!

Next post: 12.29.12 - if you have any suggestions on how this study could be more helpful or better in any way please let me know by messaging me, emailing me, or leaving a comment below. Thanks!

Romans 2:1,2

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.  We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Romans 2:1,2 ESV


Therefore...
The first thing we should notice is the word "therefore." This is important because it indicates that Paul is referring to something previous. If we look back to the verses before this, we see that Paul just spent a considerable amount of time driving home the point that lost man is absolutely corrupt in every sense...the heart, the mind, and all actions that come from them are corrupt. 

-who we are-

It is crucial that we have a healthy understanding of who we are and were. In our lost state we are everything that Paul described in Romans 1:18-32. When God saves us, He completely changes our heart and what it desires, and our mind follows. The thing that doesn't change is our sin nature, nature that we have as man that is fractured and broken. Once God performs this heart change, a battle begins - the battle between our new heart that loves and wants God, and our sin nature that is corrupt. 

Once we begin to grasp our background, how completely sinful and corrupt we are without Christ, and the battle that we now wage with the flesh, we can begin to see where Paul is going here in Chapter 2.  


 "you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges."

This sounds like a warning to somebody, so I think it's important that we make sure we understand what Paul is saying here, and who he is saying it to. The first thing we need to know is what does the word "judge" mean, because whoever Paul is talking to seems to be guilty of "judging."

judge: the Gr word translated judge means to distinguish or decide, but in a negative way - to avenge, condemn, or damn.


Paul's primary audience here is Jews, but this applies to any who lift themselves up to look down on others. I think there are two specific reasons that we must keep ourselves from being overtaken by a judgmental spirit.

1. We don't have the ability to see the true state of a person's heart. Someone's visible struggles with a particular sin may not reveal that they are condemned, but rather that they are in a fierce battle with the evil one, and instead of judgement they need lifting up, prayer, and encouragement.

2. We don't know just how deep sin runs in our own life. God has revealed so many times to me areas of my life where sin was hindering my relationship with Him and those around me. God is constantly revealing areas in all of His children's lives where sin needs to be dealt with. This is the process of sanctification, becoming more Christlike, and this will continue until the day we are freed from this sin nature.


For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

In light of the two points above, and our understanding of who we all were without Christ, I think it's safe to say that the only way that we could possibly judge, condemn, look down on others because of their sin would be to ignore our own sin and lift ourselves up, filled with pride and selfishness. This was the problem with the Jews that Paul was talking to, and remains the problem with any self-righteous person today who fails to see his/her own sin while condemning others for theirs! 

Not only is this wrong, to attempt to pass judgement on others, but it digs a much "deeper grave" for those who knowingly do it. All sin is rooted in selfishness or pride - so when we condemn anyone for a sin committed, we are automatically failing to address our own pride and selfishness and as a result condemn ourselves.


If this seems like it doesn't apply to us, that should be an immediate red flag!

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 1Co 10:12

No one has arrived, nor will we arrive, at perfection until we are with our Savior in Heaven. Every one of us is vulnerable to any sin, including judging others, if we are not continually asking God to reveal our sinfulness to us, and praying for strength to continually purge these sins from our lives. This is an awesome and powerful process...it draws us closer and closer to God while revealing the amazing power He has given us over sin! 

 

We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.

Here, Paul encourages us to leave the judging to God. Those who deserve condemnation will be justly condemned. God is the only One who can judge according to the pure Truth. While this is encouraging to those who are saved, it is absolutely devastating to those who are not.


What are your thoughts on these verses? I would love grow with you through shared wisdom and experiences!

 Meanwhile, as God's children, let's all pray that God would shape us, mold us, and form us to be more like His perfect Son by continually revealing to us the areas in our life where sin is causing issues in our relationship with Him and with others. He has given us the power to purge this sin from our lives, we need to step up and address it!

 

Romans 1:32

Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Romans 1:32 ESV

Paul's final statement in this chapter about how far removed from God man has chosen to be in his lost state is blunt, a dagger that destroys any hope that man will change his mind and come back to God.

Man knows that the just penalty for the sinfulness that Paul has described in previous verses is eternal death, yet this does not change the desire to pursue these things. We, in our lost state, bury what we know to be true about God to the point that we are able to justify in our minds our decision dishonor Him in search of something else to fill the empty void in our life. If you are saved you know that there is nothing other than God that will fill that void.


But man goes farther than this in his effort to justify his actions...we have all heard the phrase misery loves company...and this is so true here. Not only does man choose to run away from the light, he approves, or finds pleasure, in others who do the same thing. There is strength in numbers, and as long as we can look around and see others fleeing into the darkness we can feel better about our decision to do the same.

As a Christian, it's heartbreaking to think that we would ever approve of our fellow man running headlong into hell. Yet, in our lost state, our sinful nature consumes us, controls us, and destroys us - to the point that we will do anything to feel better about ourselves.

The only thing that can change this is the Grace of God, opening our eyes, bringing back to the surface the the things we know to be true about Him that we have buried, and allowing us to see who He really is. God does this by restoring that heart that He surrendered over to lusts of impurity, by restoring the mind that He gave over to unrighteousness. When God has caused this restoration process to take place, man can finally see clearly this awesome God, and ultimately gravitates towards the light that has pierced the darkness!

Praise be to God who in His grace, love, and mercy still pulls man from the murky darkness that is the domain of Satan, in spite of our kicking and screaming, so that we can enjoy this relationship with Him that we could never deserve!

In closing, I would like to pull some lines from the chapter that we have just completed that touch on some of the points that Paul went over.

...set apart for the gospel of God...

...that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers...

For I am not ashamed of the gospel...

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men...

...God gave them up...

I truly appreciate the comments that were shared as we worked our way through this chapter. I have grown a lot, and pray that you have as well. It's also my prayer that God will continue to lay the things that we have read and studied on all of our hearts in the days, months, and years to come - so that we may all continue to grow closer to Him, to learn more who He is, and how much He loves us. I look forward to digging into chapter 2 with you. 

Romans 1:28-31

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Romans 1:28-31 ESV

Once again we see man rejecting God in favor of sinful pursuits, and God allowing man to do so.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done

A debased, also interpreted reprobate, mind is one that is unacceptable, evil, lower in quality ... God created man in His own image, yet (as we have seen in vs 24, 26, and 28) He surrendered us over to the lusts of the flesh because it was what we wanted ... darkness and separation from God is what we chose.

Paul uses a very strong word to describe just how bad our situation really is...filled. This literally means to cram (a net), completely, fully - simply as full as something can get. In our lost state we are filled with all manner of unrighteousness.

1 John 5:17 reveals to us God's thoughts on unrighteousness - "all unrighteousness (wrongdoing) is sin." - and Paul has laid out in this chapter that this unrighteousness has affected our heart and our mind...what we desire and how we think. We are utterly and completely lost, without any reliable compass.

Once he has very thoroughly laid out the fact that we chose this path, how completely lost we are, and how at enmity with God we are, Paul describes what all flows out of this sinful heart and mind.

evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

While we may say to ourselves "I might not be perfect, but I'm not evil, I've never murdered someone," - we must realize that any and all of these are unrighteous, sinful in the eyes of God. We also must realize that doing these things is not what make us sinners, these are actions that flow out of the sinful hearts and minds that God has surrendered us to. 

Fixing or eliminating any these in our life will never restore our hearts and minds...God has to do that...and it requires blood to be shed, a perfect sacrifice to be made. Thank You Jesus!

If you feel led to share any thoughts or wisdom on these verses please do so! I look forward to growing through any thoughts you might share! 

Romans 1:26,27

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. Romans 1:26,27 ESV

Once again, we see that God is giving man what he wants, allowing man to pursue something other than what God created him for. In these two verses, Paul addresses the relationship between man and woman. 
  

God gave them up to dishonorable passions

Paul makes it clear that what man chose to purse was not honorable to God, dishonorable is also translated vile, both of which relay the idea of something ugly, wrong, and in opposition to God - yet this is clearly what man wanted, what man chose. 


For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men

Paul had to be disgusted as he described just how far man would go in his pursuit of darkness, there is no limit to how evil man can get when God decides remove His restraint. A few key words I would like to pull out of this section:

exchanged/gave up: replacing something with something else, to give up something for something else...in this case taking something natural and replacing it with something unnatural.

natural relations: refers to the physical aspect; growth and production.

I think defining these words is important because we need to know what was designed by God as natural, and what is dishonoring to God about the unnatural. While not all of us have ever, or will ever struggle with the obvious issue of homosexuality, there may be some underlying issues here that are dishonoring to God that we may need to deal with at some point in our life.

So...what was God's design for a relationship? We see this in Gen 1:27:  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. and also in Gen 5:2:  Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. It's very clear from these two verses that God's design was for a relationship to be between a male and female...and this is true of the animal kingdom as well, as we see in Gen 6:19:  And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Going even further, we see the purpose of a relationship consisting of a male and a female in Gen 7:3:  and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. There should be no question as to how God designed a relationship and what the purpose was for this design.

Since man is created in the image of God, however, there is more to the relationship than simply reproduction. There is the idea of marriage, and it's purpose in God's creation. While there's not enough time to go into great detail on this amazing and very interesting topic, I would like to bring in a few verses from Ephesians (I've added emphasis in an attempt to clarify the main point). I think these verses detail what God honoring marriage is all about:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 

 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 

Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,

because we are members of his body.

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Ephesians : 5:22-33

A Godly marriage is to reflect Christ and the Church, His bride. We need to understand that our marriage - the way we act, the way we respect each other, and the way we love each other - is to be in direct relation to how Christ loves His bride. Anything other than this is to miss the point, and to rob God of the glory that comes from a true Godly marriage. I highly recommend a book by John Piper called "This Momentary Marriage." Piper goes into amazing detail in this book about the purpose of marriage. 

In closing, my point here is that there is more to God's design for a relationship, and marriage, than the simple command that it be between a male and a female. All that we do is honor and glorify God, and it is our duty to pray to God daily to reveal to us where in our life, in our relationship, in our marriage, where are we robbing Him of the glory He so deserves. 

If we choose not to glorify God in our lives, if we choose to pursue the dishonorable passions brought on by our sinful nature, if we never submit to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master, and put our faith of salvation wholly and completely in His shed blood, then we will be included with those described in these verses - who will be "receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error" - or as described in Rev 20:15  And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

I encourage anyone reading this to reach out to God the Father, make sure of your salvation - He has promised us peace and confidence are to be ours. Pray for Him to reveal any areas of your life that may be robbing Him of His deserved glory. If you have not given your life to Christ, reach out to Him, He is faithful to forgive you of any sin, none is so great that it cannot be forgiven by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

God is the only One that can free us from the bondage of our sinful and dishonorable passions!

 

 

Romans 1:24,25

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.  Romans 1:24,25 ESV

The first thing that I think is important to note is that this verse begins with therefore, which automatically directs us back to what was written in the previous verses. The previous verses laid out what man's desires truly are in his lost state - man knows God, yet refuses to glorify Him or give thanks to Him - man wants to exchange the glory of God for mortal things. This sets the stage for what God does in verse 24.

God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity

gave them up indicates surrender - God surrendered man to impurity by allowing him to pursue the lusts of an sinful heart.

My kids are still young, so I can only imagine the heartbreak that a parent goes through when a child decides to pursue a lifestyle that as parents we know is wrong, and going to result in harm to our child.

This example is described perfectly in Luke 15:11-32 - the familiar parable of the prodigal son. While there are so many lessons to be learned from this parable, we ultimately see the father allow the prodigal son to take his inheritance and leave, knowing full well that the lifestyle his son has chosen is going to be harmful and result in no good whatsoever, yet the father allows his son to leave.

God does the same with us, He does not hold us against our will - even though we were created for His glory, to have a relationship with Him - He allows us to do what we willfully choose - which results in us running farther and farther from Him in pursuit of the desires of our broken and sinful heart.


to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves

This must be especially heart breaking to God - here is man - God's workmanship, created in His image - choosing to dishonor this very body that God created for His glory!

Genesis 1:27  So God created man in his own image
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship 


because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

After explaining that God gave us over to the lusts of our heart, according to our will, Paul reiterates why God did this - because we exchanged what we know to be true about God for a lie - and instead choose to worship things that are created rather than the Creator. Paul gives a subtle but stern warning at the end however -  who is blessed forever - ultimately, God will be worshiped forever. God giving us over to the lusts of our sinful heart, us choosing to worship things other than God in no way changes this fact:

Rom 14:11  for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

Php 2:10  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth

God will be worshiped and praised forever!

I think it's easy sometimes to fall into the trap of thinking that we aren't as bad as the people described in these verses, especially the verses coming up. We need to realize however, that even on our best days as lost souls, we are unclean to God. In our fallen and sinful state, our desires are always in opposition to the glory of God. We may not be as evil as the next person, but in Gods eyes we are all in need of a perfect sacrifice - His Son!

I look forward to any shared wisdom on these verses!

Romans 1:22,23

Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

 Claiming to be wise, they became fools

It's our fallen, sinful nature to be self reliant. In our lost state, the last thing that we want to do is recognize the fact that we are reliant on an all powerful God. So, we claim to be able to make the correct decisions on our own, claiming to be wise on our terms. This is the heart of the issue for fallen man, the attempt to be self reliant in order to refuse submission to a sovereign God.

Paul has explained to us here what happens when man attempts to proclaim himself wise on his own terms - he becomes a fool.

Fool: fool here is different than foolish hearts in the previous verse - that meant wicked, this means to become insipid (bland, without stimulating or distinctive qualities), to become a simpleton (ignorant).

This describes man without God - no distinctive qualities that are useful to the glory of God, ignorant and unaware of his lost state - all a result of choosing to be self reliant. 

We may think that, as Christians, we are less susceptible to falling into this trap of self reliance, but it may not be as clear as we think. I believe that ignoring the convictions of the Holy Spirit, refusing or pushing off following God's clear leading, failing to step out in faith when called by God to do so - all of these are examples of relying on our human wisdom rather than submitting to an immortal, incorruptible God.

If we continue on this path for any period of time, we can become unaware of our circumstance and fail to address the situation as it gets progressively worse. Thankfully, as Christians, we know that God will eventually bring us back, but the road of God's discipline is not always fun while taking place. It is much better for us, and more glorifying to God, if we continually pray for awareness of our self reliance so that we can purge it from our lives, and submit completely to our awesome God!

and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

When man attempts to rely on human wisdom and desires in place of submitting to God, he automatically exchanges the glory of God for something else. Described here are "images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." - This might paint a picture in our head of the typical idols set up so that people can come and bow down - that was and is true in certain places. However, it can be much more subtle than that - anything that takes priority over God becomes an idol and a transgression of the first commandment - "Have no other gods before me."

Some may be obvious - sports, hobbies, collections, possessions, etc - however things that may seem perfectly good can also become idols if they take priority over God - volunteering, ministries, church functions, church itself can even become an idol.

Due to the fact that it is the nature of our flesh, which we battle every day, it is crucial that we cry out to God without ceasing, that He would reveal to us where our lives are hindering our witness for Him, that He would give us the strength to purge these idols from our life and give us a pure love for Him alone, that He would take priority over every single thing in our life - so that we might not become fools, ignorant and unable to recognize our sin, bland and ineffective for the glory of God.

If you feel moved to comment on these verses, I pray that you would. We can all grow so much from sharing words of wisdom and encouragement with each other!