Three times in Romans 1 Paul refers to God giving the unrepentant over:
24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.
26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind and to do things that should not be done.
I’ve been misreading that for decades.
I’ve been reading it as if it said, “God gave them up,” or “God gave up on them, abandoned them.”
Sadly, many parents have gone through the agony of dealing with a child addicted to drugs or alcohol. Because the love their child, they try everything in their power to protect them, guide them, and shield them.
But eventually there comes a point when they realize they can do no more. Eventually there comes a point when they realize that their efforts are more enabling than beneficial.
It’s an agonizing, heartbreaking decision when they finally let go, allowing their beloved child to suffer the consequences of addiction. It tears them up to see their child’s health deteriorate, to watch them lose jobs, serve time in jail, and become homeless. Maybe their child loses custody of their children, and the grandparent steps up to raise them.
These heartbroken parents had to give their daughters and sons over, but they never ever gave them up. They continued to pray. They continued to hope.
And when the addicted child finally gets sober (with a lot of help from twelve step programs and rehab facilities), the parents are the first to welcome them home with open arms.
Our Father in the heavens is more loving than any human parent.
Out of love, God sometimes has to allow us to feel the weight and suffer the natural consequences of our poor choices.
That is never God’s preference – God would prefer we repent, change our minds, and turn to him long before anything addictive-like gets its talons into us. When we choose to go the hard way, it breaks God’s heart.
But God never ever gives us up.
God never abandons us.
God will never leave us or forsake us. (Deuteronomy 31:8; Hebrews 13:5)
No matter what we’ve done, no matter how deeply imbedded our bad habits may be, no matter how long we have walked in our own ways and ignored God’s clear instructions, God stands ready, like the prodigal’s father, to run to us, embrace us, and celebrate our homecoming.
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