By Process of Elimination

by Dee Bowman
Southside Church of Christ
Pasadena, Texas

The Christian has to eliminate certain things from his life if he is to be pleasing to God. Among them, he should:

Eliminate feelings of pride. It is not out of order to care for and protect oneself, but the true child of God will always find ways to put off excessive pride and put himself at the disposal of others. The very essence of discipleship is that of self-denial (Matt. 16:24), and Paul said, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another” (Rom. 12:10).

Eliminate ill will. It’s easy to be overcome with evil when someone does something to us or treats us in some way we don’t appreciate. But we are told that we should “recompense to no man evil for evil” (Rom. 12:17), that we should “be no overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). The beginning place for such good will is to eliminate ill will before it has time to fester. “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Rom. 12:18).

Eliminate evil thoughts. All evil deeds begin in the mind—with evil thoughts. This elimination is actually a matter of employing the law of displacement. If our minds are taken up with good thoughts, there is no room left for the bad ones to germinate. That’s why God said, through His servant Paul, that whatever things are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, or of good report, that we should “think on these things” (Phil. 4:8). If a person’s mind is taken up with these noble thoughts, it is hardly possible for the evil ones to penetrate his thinking.

Eliminate evil inclinations of all kinds. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5). To “mortify” something is to put it to death, to be separated from it—in short, to eliminate. The good Christian makes every effort to put out of the house anything that might tempt him to evil.

Eliminate all doubt. Total trust is what faith is all about. There is no room in the kingdom for doubt. We have complete trust in our Father and His assurances. God will do what He has said. His promises are sure, His word steadfast. “For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken” (Prov. 3:26). “I will never leave you,” He said, (Heb. 13:5), so that we may say, with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 13:6). If God said it, that settles it, no doubt about it.

Eliminating bad stuff from our lives is part of what we are all about. We try to expunge any and everything that would inhibit our progress as the children of God. It is our duty—yea, our privilege—so to do.

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