Brenda & The Bible: Born to Be Wild

By Brenda Groves

The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer

• 
  
      I have spoken of the small farm I grew up on where we raised your typical barn yard animals. But on occasion, we would take in unusual offspring, like the orphaned raccoon I was given when I was a teenager. 
• The coon was just a few days old and immediately my heart went out to this little fella. Boonie would sleep wrapped around my wrist at night as if he were hugging a tree limb or his mother.
    And like a surrogate mom, I loved and nurtured him until he was a full-grown adult. Now, my father had warned me that this was still a wild raccoon by nature, and to respect that and not trust him.
    But I didn’t see any such behavior in Boonie, so I chose to ignore my dad’s warning. I thought my love could keep him tame so I treated him as a close friend. Oh, he would get into some mischief from time to time, such as going through cabinets, pulling things off the shelf, and typical teenage roughhousing.
    But then I started to notice a change taking place as he approached adulthood. He was becoming more aggressive towards people.
    And then one day Boonie turned on me and almost bit me. My dad said, “That’s it!” He released Boonie in the back of our land. 
• I was sad for a while but it opened up a lot of questions in my mind. Questions about our origins and what about the true nature inside mankind. What caused this behavior in a creature I showed kindness to? And why did I navigate toward the wrong things? Why was it so easy to do wrong instead of right?  Why was I so rebellious towards my own parents who showed me love and kindness?
          The Bible teaches that, “the heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked: who can know it?”
  “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good to those who are accustomed to do evil.”  (Jer. 13:23,17:9)
    But this column is not about conservation, it is about transformation. The sinful human nature that we all are born with is what separates us from God and pulls us in the opposite direction. It is a heart condition. Even though we can modify our behavior if we choose to, it will not change the true fallen nature inside.
    There is a huge difference between animals and people. Animals cannot choose to change their true nature. Deep down, the heart of a dog is to be a dog, a bear will be a bear and a raccoon …. will still be a raccoon. Animals were created by God but animals were NOT created in the “image of God.” People were created in the image of God.
      And I used to have a sinful nature but praise God I CHOSE to be reborn by putting FAITH in God’s grace and RECEIVED mercy through Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection for ALL mankind. I’m no longer a sinner by nature. I am not just an old sinner saved by grace and holding on by a thread.
  Though I have the opportunity to still sin, that is no longer my true nature. I no longer naturally gravitate toward it, I hate sin and the destructive nature of it.
    But now my born-again Spirit is perfect (Holy Spirit living in me), and my mind is still being renewed through the word of God, and my body has yet to be redeemed.
        It took a period of time to erase wrong teachings/philosophies in my mind, and replace them with the correct teaching/knowledge of the true nature of God. Eventually, I began to exercise my faith to grow closer to God and enjoy intimacy with my Heavenly Father.
        When I was first born again, I knew I was forgiven of all my past sins but I still had a sin consciousness.  I thought deep inside I still had a sin nature, and I was constantly coming to God and asking Him to forgive me of my sins.  Yet, instead of this mindset bringing me closer to God, it actually caused me to build MY own walls of separation between He and I.
      I quit putting my faith in Jesus. Instead I kept identifying with my old nature. But late one night, the Lord woke me up and quite plainly I heard Him speak to my heart, “You are free to love me.” I cannot express how deeply this impacted me.
  Wow! It is His idea! I just agree with Him and say “yes and amen.”
          All my sins have been paid for, past, present and future. This has caused me to love Him even more and to release this love toward others time and again. 
      Born again believers do not have to wait until we get to Heaven to experience all the fullness and goodness of God. I rejoice in Him every day to revisit the joy of my salvation. When I get up in the morning, the first thing I profess out loud is something like this: “Thank you Father God for making a way for me to know You. Thank you Jesus. I am clothed in Your righteousness. Thank you, Lord, that I am Yours. I am a true child of God. I am so grateful that You exchanged my heart of stone for a heart of flesh. You are faithful and I love You!!”   
          I am not boastful or prideful in myself but I am confident in who I am in Christ and Christ living in me.  
    We may have been born to be wild, according to Satan’s plan of destruction.
  But God has another plan for us: to be reborn in Christ and change our spiritual DNA.
  We are not born to be wild, but born to be His. It is our choice, choose life.
  “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb. 4:12
  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. There is no law.” Gal. 5:22-23   
  
  (The book of Galatians and Ephesians is rich in understanding who we are in Christ as born again believers. The books of Romans and Hebrews are also good.)
  
  Contact Brenda Groves at: bkgroves1996@yahoo.com