Has the Cross Changed Me?

Are you all busy preparing for Easter? Buying new white lacy socks for your little girls, preparing special outfits, hair ribbons and bows, baking up a storm and preparing your family traditions? Me too.

But in the midst of it all, I’m taking time to sit and consider these questions:

How has the power of the cross and Christ’s resurrection changed me?

Am I the person I was last year? Better? Worse? Am I super focused on “externals” and looking good or “saving face” (aka hiding my sin) when Christ says that my heart and its meditations are paramount and who we “really are”–for better or for worse!

What is my heart temperature toward my Savior today? Hot, Cold, Lukewarm? (hint: my heart temperature towards God reflects my love for others as well.)

Does my life look like the cross? Am I characterized by self denial, humility, dependence on God and a desire to do God’s will, even if it means bearing a cross I can’t stand?

Does my heart cry out, “Not my will, but Thine?”–or am I pretty selfish in wanting my own way?

Has the cross lifted my burdens as I’ve confessed my sins, or am I still one of those “silly women, laden down with sin?” with a guilty conscience and a long history of broken, unresolved relationships? Am I harboring unconfessed sin? Do I hang on to pet sins when I know Christ forbids them?

Have I really been forgiven? If so, have I forgiven others? Is my conscience clean toward others? Have I asked forgiveness of others when prompted by the Holy Spirit, or am I so proud that I won’t humble myself to ask forgiveness? Am I carrying on to my own detriment by harboring sinful attitudes that lead to unloving relationships with others and compounded sin which leads to despair and guilt, ineffectiveness and unfruitfulness?

Do I cling to the Christ of the cross or the world? In other words, Am I worldly? Do worldly desires like materialism, over-indulgence, craving self recognition or  approval from man move me to do what I do? Does jealousy, envy, pride, an argumentative, critical spirit define me? What would others say about my words, actions and reactions? Are my sinful desires “dead in Christ” like they should be?

Have we crushed our stubborn will that fights against God and will not yield to Him in full obedience? (hint: when we sin, we have not!)

“We will be broken–sooner or later. We can choose to be broken or we can wait for God to crush our pride. If we resist the means God provides to lead us to brokenness (his Word, our circumstances, our church family) we do not avoid brokenness–we simply make it necessary for God to intensify and prolong the process.”

Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Brokenness

Are we walking in pride, all the while claiming to walk “as Jesus walked”, when all the time He walked a different way–in humility and servitude? Is God resisting us because of our pride? God says he has “two addresses”–He lives on high, and with the lowly and contrite of heart. Are we overlooking little sins? Do we think God will gloss over them, too, and that we are somehow the exception to God’s laws? “He cares about THAT sinner over there, but He’ll wink at MY indifference, my bad attitude or critical remark?”

“We may never defy God, or commit “egregious sin”, but all it takes to get into a position where God is forced to resist us is to refuse to humble ourselves and be broken before Him in one little matter. God always resists the proud–whether that person is a blasphemer or an adulterer, a pastor or a homeschooling mom.”

~Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Brokeness

As you prepare for Easter in all of it’s festivities, prepare yourself to worship God in spirit and in truth. It’s easier to plan for the outside (even though it is more exhausting!)–the pretty dresses and fun foods–but the more important aspect of Easter is what will we do with what Christ has done for us?