It is gratifying to look back on life and see how old sins have slowly been displaced by new obedience. It is encouraging to see how temptations that were once common have become rare and how patterns of transgression that were once stubborn have become loosened. It is a blessing to see all the ways in which sin’s grip has been relaxed. Plenty of sin remains, of course, and far too much apathy in expressing it! But it is still good to see that God’s promises are true and to rejoice that growth is taking place.
But sometimes I wonder: How much am I actually becoming holier and how much am I just becoming wearier? How much have I really grown in sanctification and how much am I just too tired to be bothered pursuing sin? Not all sin, of course. It takes no energy to think a hateful thought or toss out a condescending word. But some sin takes effort and some sin depends, at least in part, on a certain level of physical or emotional energy.
I’ve heard many spouses express that the differences between them that seemed so urgent in the early days of their marriage were replaced with a kind of tolerance in the later days. The issues that once divided them began to seem less consequential and no longer worthy of a fight. Did the spouses grow in godliness, or did they just get worn out? Did they replace sin with sanctification or did they just find they no longer had the energy to engage in a spat?
I’ve heard older men express that the sexual temptations that were so common when they were young became much easier to control as they aged. Is that the fruit of a long war for holiness, the reward for a long series of battles against lustful thoughts and leering glances? Or is it that their bodies have changed, their hormones have ebbed, and they’re just too tired to be interested in what was once so intriguing?
I suppose we can’t definitively know and I suppose God’s grace can come in many forms. His grace can be expressed in the spiritual process of putting sin to death and coming alive to righteousness. His grace can also be expressed in the physical process of aging and all that comes with it—the waning capacities, the diminishing desires, the ebbing energy. His grace can come in some mysterious combination of the two.
Be encouraged that through any number of means, God is reducing sin’s presence in your life and will continue to do so.
My encouragement to the young is to anticipate that one of the blessings of aging may prove to be that some sins are no longer as interesting as they once were and you may not always need to fight them with the same level of tenacity you do today. Of course, the aged are not immune to sin and even if some temptations diminish, others may arise in their place. Still, be encouraged that through any number of means, God is reducing sin’s presence in your life and will continue to do so.
My encouragement to the old is to be thankful for this benefit that comes with aging, yet not to be dependent upon it. Continue to wage harsh warfare against the least presence of sin in your life, knowing that none of us is entirely immune to any sin on this side of the grave. We cannot truly rest and truly cease from the battle until we are safely home in heaven.
