The relationship between the person playing the video game and the character on the screen is typically a very simple one… we press the analog stick left and they turn left, we tap the button to jump and they leap, we select which dialogue option we want them to share and they say it. It would be very problematic if our virtual avatars refused to perform the actions we guided them to do… and if they chose to ignore our input they would realize very quickly that we weren’t trying to restrict them, we were protecting them. We told them to jump to avoid falling into a trap, we moved them to the left to dodge a boulder, and we told them what to say because it was the only option to gain that person as an ally rather than an adversary. We don’t give them direction to frustrate them, but to lead them to victory.

Similar to our gaming characters, we are called to make the daily choice to surrender control of our words and actions to the Lord’s commands. But yielding ourselves to His loving guidance is for our protection and our provision, not our restriction. He knows where the obstacles are that we can’t see as well as the impact of the decisions we make on the future… so while we may have to make some jumps we’d rather not make and bite our tongues today, placing the controller into His hands is the only way to win.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20

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