Our Moral Victories Glorify God

             By A.W. Tozer
 
             For to be carnally minded is death; but lo be spiritually
             minded is life and peace.  Romans 8:6

                In  the  Pauline  epistles, the  gravitational  pull  of  the
             heart in one direction or another is called "the mind."  In
             the  eighth  chapter  of Romans, for instance, when Paul
             refers to the  "mind"  he  is  referring  to  the sum of our
             dominant desires.

                The mere intellect, then, is not the mind: the mind is
             intellect plus an emotional tug strong enough to
             determine action!

               As  Christians,  our  only  safety  lies  in  complete
             honesty. We must surrender our hearts to God so that
             we  have  no  unholy  desires,  then  let  the  Scriptures
             pronounce their judgment on a contemplated course. If
             the  Scriptures  condemn  an object, we must accept that
             judgment and conform to it,  no matter how we may for
             the moment feel about it.

                To  want  a  thing,  or feel that we want it, and then to
             turn from it because we see that it is contrary to the will
             of  God  is  to  win  a great battle on the way to spiritual
             mindedness.

                To bring our desires to the cross and allow them to be
             nailed there with Christ is a good and a beautiful thing.

                To be tempted and yet to glorify God in the midst of it
             is to honor Him where it counts. This is more pleasing to
             God than any amount of sheltered and untempted piety
             could ever be!

                God is always  glorified when He wins a moral victory
             over us, and we are always benefited, immeasurably and
             gloriously benefited!

               The blood of Christ will cleanse not only actual sins
             but the very inward desires so that we will not want to
             sin.  A blessed state indeed, and blessed are they that
             reach it!
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             Yours in Christ,
             Paul N. F.