Cling Sin

 A few months back my pastor asked all of us to take out our notebooks and write down "Cling Sin."  Then he told us to write what our individual "Cling Sin" was.  Well, it took me a minute, after all I'm prit near perfect.  Just kidding :)  But it did take me a minute to figure out which issue I deal with most often.  I could have written 'yell at my kids over something silly,' 'selfishness,' 'put things off that should have been done yesterday,' 'not give my husband enough attention.'  The list goes on...

But I realized there was one sin that I have dealt with my entire life.  If I'm being realistic, I've dealt with it since I was a baby.  I may have started out innocent enough.  I mean come on, I was a baby.  But as I grew, I didn't recognize that sin in my life.  It was something that gave me comfort.  It didn't hurt anyone.  I didn't see it as sin.  Then a couple years ago, I realized that 'thing' was my first thought when I needed comfort.  I looked for that BEFORE I looked for God.  You might think that since I recognized it I would be able to take control of it.  Well, it's not called a "Cling Sin" for nothing.

I've prayed for God to take away certain sins in my life.  It took time, but I kept praying and desiring it to be gone, and each time I was changed from the inside out.  But a "Cling Sin" is a cloak that keeps you warm in the dead of winter but you don't realize it's actually summer.  The tricky thing about a "Cling Sin" is that you don't necessarily realize that your insides are boiling.  It's like a frog in a pot of water with the temperature slowly rising.  It's a habit that just happens without you thinking about it.  

My "Cling Sin" is gluttony.  People might look at me and think, "She could stand to lose some weight."  But they wouldn't think, "Glutton!"  Actually, when the sin doesn't necessarily stand out to others, that's when it's even harder to deal with.  You can disguise it, cover it up.  I want to be healthier, BUT I really like eating.  So I go in spurts of eating healthy and shedding some fat to enjoying "see food."  Yes, I spelled that right.  I see food and I eat it.  

I need to stop blaming others for my "Cling Sin."  I think, "If they didn't offer it to me, I wouldn't eat it.  If I didn't have buy food for my growing children, I could eat next to nothing.  If... If... If..."  The truth is... a "Cling Sin" is no laughing matter.  To truly get rid of it, you need Jesus and you need to stay in the Word.  It probably won't happen overnight, but if you keep your eyes on Him, He will help you overcome even your "Cling Sin."  When you fall down, get back up.  His mercy and grace is abounding.