Too Much Baggage!

My lovely roommate (miss ya!) asked me the other day,"why don't you talk like that more often?" (referring to the posts I put on here) I said,"well, I have a problem with always sticking my foot in my mouth when I talk, so I write more of what I feel because there's that awesome backspace button or the wonderful eraser that makes the times you could have stuck your foot in your mouth disappear." So, I am going to try and say more of this stuff, but don't worry I will be posting as well for those of you who aren't around me as much ;) Here's another post for ya:

"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."(Hebrews 12:11)

I know the kind of a people who like to drag a lot of stuff with them when they travel. They have been traveling for many years, yet they still overpack....I am one of those people who like to have more than I need "just in case" ;) Wanting to bring everything they own. But excess baggage makes traveling more complicated. In the same way, when you are running the race of life, you need to run light. Sometimes we drag along a lot of excess weight. But notice that the Bible tells us to "strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress." Sin is sin, and there are certain non-negotiables to which we must hold fast. There may be something you are doing that is impeding your spiritual progress. Periodically, I need to take stock of my life as a Christian and look at the things I am doing with my time. I need to ask myself the question, "Is it a wing or a weight? Is it speeding me on my way spiritually, or is it slowing me down? Is it increasing my spiritual appetite, or is it dulling it?" How often we are so busy doing a lot of things that aren't really all that important, but they seem important at the time. We need to ask ourselves if we need to do all of those things. Are they slowing you down? Lay aside the weight and the sin that hinders your progress.