To Death?

I think our culture - mixed with a heavy dose of myself - have made it very easy to romanticize the Gospel. It's so much easier to focus on the love of Christ rather than the death of Christ. And to think that He calls us, the ones He loves, to die...it sounds impossible.  Not at all like the fairytales I read.

For the past couple of days I've been trying to focus a little more on the dying part. 

"Put to death therefore whatever is earthly in you." (Col 3:5) 

"He himself bore our sins to his body on the cross, that we might die to sin." (1 Peter 2:24)

I'm not trying to say that anything we do is by our own strength.  It absolutely is not and putting our flesh to death can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit, but I do believe we are given choices everyday.

For a long time I made my choices based on the fact that God's grace knows no bounds. Because we have been set free from the Law I chose to do many things merely because I "could".  Nothing explicitly sinful and often I could justify my actions by saying, "The Bible doesn't say it is wrong, so obviously God doesn't care."  However, deep down I knew that God was not pleased.  In fact, deep down even I was not pleased. 

Matt Chandler once said, "If there is anything that is keeping you from God - why wouldn't you cut that out of your life?" (loose quotation, I didn't write it down. Sorry, Matt.)

So if there is something that perhaps every other Christian is doing and I choose to do it, but I know it is causing me to stumble - should I not cut it out? Should I not put it to death?

Yes, I should. So, why don't I? Because it is hard.

Death is painful. 

But without death there can be no new life.  

And I want that new life.

I am incredibly grateful the strength to do this comes from Jesus Christ and not myself. May the Holy Spirit have His way in all our lives, so that we may be able to put ourselves and our desires to death and have our hearts changed to desire the things which God would have for us.