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• Romans 6:13 (New International Version)

• “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.”
• Become a pure white rose first, so that you can be a weapon used by God!
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• As I am continuing in reading this book I am really enjoying the parts of the Bible that Warren is bringing out.  This passage is important v.13, because it is a specific command to Christians to be holy for God.  And the amazing work of Christ is, that when a Christian is lets go of themselves, and looks to Christ for their strength, they will be a great instrument for God to use for His glory!
• The word that I want to focus on most in this passage though is the word “instrument.”  As Christians we all want to be used by God to serve Him.  But what does that mean?  The word “Instrument” in this passage is pretty amazing if you understand what the meaning is behind it.  Instrument in this passage can be translated ”Tool” or ”Weapon.”  So, then after a Christian has been continually filling themselves with God’s Holiness, they are great ”Tools” or “Weapons” for God to use for His glory!
• “A holy minister is a awful weapon in the hand of God.” Robert M’Cheyne
• In Isaiah 49:2 Jesus is described as a sword or a polished arrow.  So, this is amazing when we think about what this means for Christians, if we believe that we are called to be followers of Jesus.  This means that we are a weapon, to invade a battleground of evil, to be used in incredible ways for God.  There are many different stories in the Bible that demonstrate that people used by God are incredible weapons for Him.  David is a great example where God wanted Him to defeat an evil giant who defied God!  David was a weapon who used his sling to accomplish the will of God.  Moses also, was a great weapon where God used him to life his rod over the red sea to part it and demonstrate His power to the world.  
• I am finding that God longs to use people who have surrendered to God and are willing to be used to be great weapons in His hands.  The way this whole process starts is the act of becoming holy like this passage says.  A person needs to be willing to be different and set themselves apart from the evil so that they can attack it.  A person that is on fire for God is not on the defensive waiting for evil to come after them, but actually on the offensive, looking to destroy the evil, in their own lives, then in the world.  I like the passage that talks about always attacking evil with good, because this is truly the way that a Christian overcomes evil in themselves.  By Looking to God where all goodness comes from, and allowing the goodness to come from God, and overtake a person is the only way to destroy the evilness inside.
• So what does a holy life look like?  First, to understand what holiness is, you might have to understand what holiness is not.  Holiness is not a person’s reputation.  Wiersby in chapter 9 talks about the fact that Christians sometimes understand a person’s reputation with the fact of holiness in their life.  However, when it all comes down to it, being holy is not found in what other people think of you, only what God thinks of you!  The only one who truly knows if a person is holy or not is God, and that is why a person must use Jesus as the base model to imitate instead of other people.  The process of becoming holy does not rest on the approval of a person’s friends, but only on what God sees in the person’s heart, and actions that are unseen by others.  This then shows the importance of integrity in a person’s life.  Are they living out in secret what they show in front of others?
• “Life is built on character, but character is built on decisions.  The decisions you make, small and great, do to your life what the sculptor’s chisel does to the block of marble.  You are shaping your life by your thoughts, attitudes, and actions and becoming either more or less like Jesus Christ.  The more you are like Christ, the more God can trust you with His blessing.” Warren Wiersbe
• Another important fact in my reading this chapter is the fact that God does not make Christians holy for the reason of enjoying themselves.  God specifically wants to do a purifying work and make a Christian more and more holy so that they can be a blessing to others.  I believe that a Christian who is being drawn to holiness by God always leads them to actions of evangelism, and discipleship in their lives!  -Matthew 28:19-20