Shrunk or Expanded | the Master

What makes you fully yourself! Found out how sin is keeping you from being fully yourself!

Transcript

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Good morning. This is Northworth. Today, you guessed it. We're talking about slavery to sin or slavery to righteousness. Good morning. This is Northword, the Word, The North, Your Week, a daily podcast from St. John's Fort Smith, in collaboration with the Anglican family. I'm your host, Father Aaron. Augustine and Christostom, both of them are great saints who wrote a lot of different commentaries on the Bible. Augustine described, like we talked about at the beginning of the week, the soul being curved in on itself. The more we sin, the more enslaved we become, and the more enslaved, the less the will becomes capable of choosing anything but sin. The soul folds inward and the light ultimately recedes. It's not a metaphor, it's the mechanics of a life lived going in the wrong direction. Now, Chris Austin says something really interesting. He says, slavery to sin is degrading precisely because sin is beneath human dignity. It makes us less than we were made to be. And that's exactly what sin does. Christ Austin is pointing out that slavery to sin puts us down. It's beneath our human dignity. It makes us less than we were ever made to be. The master of sin just wants to put you down. Jesus wants you to grow. Here's what that means practically. The habits, the patterns, the things you yield to that you are ashamed of, they're not necessarily just morally wrong. They're making you smaller, less alive, more hollow, further and further from the light. And slavery to Christ, which might sound like a burden because we use this word slavery, actually is, ironically, the fullest form of freedom. Because it aligns you with your created nature. The creation in alignment with the Creator. You are made for this, not for the darkness. Paul asks a question in Romans chapter six that should stop us cold. What fruit were you getting when you lived under the old master? Nothing. Every valley you've walked through this lent, we've talked about desire, pride, shame, fear. Each of them produce nothing but poisonous fruit. You become what you serve. The only question is which master has you? This has been Northword, the word the North Your Week, a daily podcast from St. John's Ford Smith in collaboration with the Anglican family. Follow us wherever you listen, share this with a friend, and send us a message to the text us link in the description. We'd love to hear from you. Until tomorrow, God be with you. In the name of Fower, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.