We worshiped our way into this mess, and by God’s grace, we’ll worship our way out.”

“The Puritan preacher Thomas Chaimers, in his sermon The Expulsive Power of a New Affection, said that desires for God and desires for sin cannot coexist in the human heart. They are two opposing “affections”—one will always push out the other. So, he said, “the only way to dispossess [the heart] of an old affection, is by the explosive power of a new one” (see Gal. 5:16-17). You can’t just “stop it,” because the it is always more than behavior. It is always rooted in your affections, in what you love—what you worship. Chalmers points the way forward: we worshiped our way into this mess, and by God’s grace, we’ll worship our way out.”   Mike Wilkerson, Redemption

 ^”When Christians commit sin, they do not cease worshiping. Rather, their worship is directed away from the Creator and toward created things. Repentance is the act of turning from sin and returning to God by trusting in Jesus Christ who is the perfect worshiper. This fact helps idolaters become transformed into worshipers. John had just this in mind when he summarized his entire epistle with the closing line, “keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).”