Letting Him shape me

    A while back I blogged about something I feel like God has been calling me out on for a while. Something that I acknowledge, but never really took any action on: sin that remains in areas of my life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that I am a "new creation." "The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." Why then are there still areas of sin in my life? I realize that perfection is something I will never be able to obtain because I am not Christ, but I should still be growing to look more like Christ. If what I say Jesus means to me is true, than it should be evident in my growth towards Christ. I should daily be changed by the Spirit within me and the Word.
    Sin still exist in areas of my life because either I allow it to continue, or because I try to fight it on my own to no success. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph. 2:10) I was not made for sin. I was made for good works. So why then do I allow sin to continue in parts of my life? As is evident in scriptures sin ultimately leads to death.

"But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:21-23

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." - Romans 8:5-6

    I have the choice between eternal life and death, and there are still some places where I choose death. That this sin still exists in my life, I would wager to say that I am not giving ALL of my self to God. I'm trying to let God into some areas of my life while trying to do things my own way in other areas. If I were giving all of my self to God then each day I should come to look more like Christ, and the sin that remains in my life would begin to fade. We cannot give only part of ourselves to God. He wants it ALL. He would rather us be all in or all out rather than partially in and partially out.

"I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth." - Revelations 3:15-16

God is pretty clear about what he wants right here. He would rather we be all in or all out. You can't sit on the fence when it comes to a life with Christ.
    As I've discussed before I can't fight sin on my own. I will always fall trying to fight sin on my own. Trying to do so is prideful. Christ has already won victory over our sin.

"'Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?'

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Corinthians 15:54-57

    God wants to give us victory. He wants to set us free. He wants to restore us to righteousness. Only in Christ do we gain this victory, this freedom, this righteousness.

"For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." - Romans 8:3-4

"...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8

Because of God's immense love for us He sent his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to die the death that we deserved. To deliver us from life to death. To bring us victory over our sinful flesh.
    We are as the clay and He is as the Sculptor. The clay must trust and submit to the Sculptor and allow Him to shape it into what He desires. We must let God shape us. Let Him take away all the things in our lives that are not what he desires for us. He wants to make each of us his original masterpiece. Jeremiah 29:11 says "'...For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" God has plans for us. Plans that we can trust. He wants to give us so much more than the life that we have in our sin. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are his "workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works."
    Here is a video I once saw that talks about this; letting God shape us. I find it pretty powerful and it moves me everytime I watch it.