You’re Not The Boss Of Me!

You’re Not the Boss of Me!

You . . . should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

Romans 6:11-14

You are a slave to whatever controls you. And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.

2 Peter 2:19-20

Have you ever heard a kid being told what to do by an older brother or sister, until finally the kid shouts back, “You’re not the boss of me!”?

That is what Paul says we should shout to sin. “Sin, you’re not the boss of me. You don’t control me anymore. I don’t have to do what you tempt me to do!” This puts an end to our excuses. It means it just isn’t true that we can’t help it. We can keep our eating habits under control. We can stop ourselves from watching trashy TV shows and movies. We can keep our mouths shut when the gossip session starts.

Sin is not just an action; it’s a power that wants to control our lives. The only way we can escape being controlled by the power of sin is to be in Christ. When we are united with him, the power of sin is broken. So we do not have to give in to what our bodies or minds tell us to do. Instead, we give ourselves—our bodies, minds, wills, and emotions—to God and say, You’re in charge. I’m yours.

If you have the Holy Spirit, then sin is not the boss of you! Sin doesn’t have the power over you it once had before you were in Christ.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

Who do we naturally like to be “the boss” of us? Why?

If sin is no longer controlling us, what or who should control us?

What should we do when we feel powerless to overcome sin?