(Un)Restricted

We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your heart also.--2 Corinthians 6:11-13

Paul told the Corinthians that they were not restricted by him--or, rules and discipline imposed by him--as they were probably thinking. (If you've ever read 1 Corinthians, you know what scathing fool-slapping Paul did to the Corinthian church...in love, of course.) Rather, they were "restricted" by their "own affections." "Affections" are anything that draws your attention away from God. Anything that demands your attention and time until it becomes an idol.

That's a pretty broad and ambiguous definition, but I'll bet right now you're picturing your pet affection--some person, habit, sin, insecurity, attitude, etc, which displaces your relationship with God and misplaces your intimacy in something other than Him. I can name a few I've fallen into myself. (Quite a few, in fact.) It can really be anything--something as drastic as a codependent relationship or eating disorder (maybe I'm speaking from personal experience?) or as seemingly innocent as telling dirty jokes, gossiping (just one little comment at the water cooler), or a WWE obsession (NOT personal experience...thank goodness).

Paul's letter in 2 Corinthians (Subtitle: Fallout of Fool-Slappin') contains the famous verse, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (5:17).

His aim was not to condemn, but to remind the Corinthians: "Uh, hey, your flesh is dead, just like Christ's was dead, and you're raised to new life, like Christ is. Put away your former sins, because they're long gone in the spiritual realm. Your flesh is not the boss of you."

Although folks like to blame the Law (aka the Word of God, aka Jesus Christ) for "restricting" them, the fact is that the Law does nothing but expose the unrighteousness that is already in human kind.  If people are restricted--don't miss this--it is by their own affections, which shrink and squeeze their heart until there isn't any room for the beautiful love of Jesus that we were created to enjoy. In other words, you're not doing yourself any favors by holding on to those old habits, as hard as they are to break.

Playing with sin is like playing with a boa constrictor.

Homework assignment: read Romans 8. We don't put away sin to "get right with God." As believers, we already are...trust me (and Paul...and everyone who wrote the New Testament....) there is nothing we can do to earn that righteousness. We put away sin so that we can "widen our hearts" to the relationship God has for us with Himself.

Intentionally asking Him to reveal our pet affections (like we don't know what they are already) and then praying to be released from them isn't easy. It takes honesty and some hard work sometimes. But you're not working toward salvation; Jesus did that already. You're working to know the heart of a Father who loves you with a love that is so big and so powerful that you can't understand it.

I think that's even scarier to us sometimes than just believing we have to work to earn our salvation. God's love is a hurricane. But it's well worth it. (Another homework assignment: read Ephesians 3...or just the whole Bible, really).

To make it personal, I used to care a lot about my weight. If you've ever met me, you will realize how ridiculous that is; but our affections often don't make sense, do they? So for awhile I over-exercised and under-ate. In psychology, that's called an eating disorder, whether mine was severe enough to be diagnosed or not. The worst part was the mental stuff: the constant obsession with calories (what really are calories, anyway?).

Twisted as this problem was, it was an affection. It captivated my heart. I was addicted to the control. In a very literal way, I was being ruled by my flesh.

God opened my eyes to my problem before it became destructive, for which I am very grateful. This is one of the benefits of walking daily and intimately with the Holy Spirit (again, Romans 8): He makes it pretty much impossible to live by the flesh for any extended period of time. The Holy Spirit is the solution for daily temptations to sin. He reveals your issues and then heals them in front of your face. *BOOM* #redemption

Over the years, I still had to address body image issues, but the Holy Spirit has brought me to the tender point of revelation and then to the immediacy of His healing every time. Many of these moments had deeper roots to insecurities that seemed unrelated to body image at all. See, the Holy Spirit doesn't just expose the surface problem--He goes down deep and heals you of those wounds that are even harder to face. But He wouldn't be a good Father or a loving husband if He didn't know and care about every little issue in the heart of His beloved. He wants it healed and widened, so we may realize the purpose for which we were created: to know and be known by Him. I am still amazed to say that He has released me from the prison of body image issues by unlocking those doors that I didn't want to open in my heart, airing out the chambers, and moving in Himself.

What kind of God does that?

He wants so much to do it for you.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.--2 Corinthians 5:20-21

Like Paul, I'll close by reminding you of your identity. You are not the righteousness of you. (Thank goodness!) You are the righteousness of God.

Like, God.

His righteousness.

You are....HIS righteousness...through Jesus Christ.

Did you get that, people??!!!????

Those old affections just need to go, because they aren't good enough for the righteousness that you are already in Christ. Dang, that's a blog post in itself. Or, rather, a giant book (probably one with 66 books inside it, composed of every literary genre known to man, that spans across centuries).

It's like this. If you play around with the world, you're going to get the world. If you hang around with Jesus, you're going to get what He's giving out--and he don't give like the world gives (John 14:27). You can have the world if you want it. But, beloved, His love is unrestricted. Therefore I urge you, widen your hearts also, for the King of Glory to come in.