How can we overcome sin in our lives
Everyone, at one time, has struggled with sin.
Here at the Jesus Christ blog we know this.....
A few years ago, I struggled with two issues. They weren’t necessarily wrong for everyone, but I knew they were wrong for me.
One
involved watching certain programs on network television that involved
things contrary to the Word of God. Other Christians I knew could
watch those programs with no conviction, so I justified my behavior. It was wrong for me because I was under the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
I
struggled for a long time. I begged and pleaded for God to just break
the power it had over my life. For the longest time, nothing happened.
Then in an instant when I least expected it, in one of the most trying times of my life, the power of that thing broke. So did the other addiction I struggled with for over twenty years.
It
has been almost two years since these things have broken off my life.
Although Satan has tried to tempt me with them, the urge to do those
things is no longer exists.
Sin, unconfessed, causes us to stay
in darkness, hidden from God. We need to bring our sins, our struggles,
our temptations, into the light of God. We must ask Him to help us to
overcome in those areas.
Many people think overcoming sin
requires the crucifixion of the flesh, strong determination and will
power, but if those things worked on their own, we wouldn't have
rehabilitation centers or weight loss clinics.
Ever
heard the song, "I Have Decided" sung by Amy Grant? I love the lyrics
of that song. It says, "There's a wealth of things that I profess. I
said that I believed. But deep inside, I never changed. I guess I'd
been deceived. Cause a voice inside kept telling me that I'd change by
and by, but the Spirit made it clear to me: that kind of life's a lie."
It
is a lie to think that we can change on our own without the help of
Almighty God. The Bible says we can do nothing without Him (John 15:5).
He is the only reason we are breathing. The only reason we are alive.
The only reason we have the things we do.
We enjoy the good times with Him, but we won't let Him share in the bad times as well.
Let's say we had a spouse who was willing to share
the good times with us, but whenever she went through something, she
suffered alone, no matter how much we wanted to help. That would be
frustrating, right?
We are like that spouse. We want to suffer
through the bad times on our own. Even though it takes twice as long to
get through the problem. To shortcut the process, we need God’s help
when we are going through the problems and hard places of life.
Without God, people end up in rehabilitation centers three, six, even twelve times. They struggle to lose weight
and keep it off. They can't control their thoughts and mouths. They
yell at their spouses and children. Without God, we cannot make lasting
changes.
He created us. He knows us inside and out. He knows
us better than we know ourselves. Isn't He qualified to take on our
problems? Do we think that He doesn't have the time? He knows about our
problems and He knows how to fix them.
He loves us, and He is
concerned about everything that concerns us. It is only through
believing that God loves us that every thing will change in our lives.
Lasting change only comes from God and His love.
Believing God
loves us has nothing to do with how much we love God. It is in God, when
we believe He loves us, that we have fullness of joy and everything
else that we need.
We should ask the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth regarding why we sin in these areas (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit will save us years of therapy. He knows the problem, unlike therapists who keep us coming for years with no real progress to show for it. He is our Counselor, and He can lead us into all truth about any situation, if we just ask Him.
Also
ask God for wisdom on what to do about the situation (James 1:5). He
said that if we ask for wisdom, He will give it to us liberally.
Next
take a Bible concordance and find every Scripture on that sin--whether
it be worry, lust, greed or pride. Then write down those Scriptures.
After
reading through them, we must narrow them down to three. We need to
keep speaking and believing those three Scriptures in the spare moments
of our day.
When we do this, we are putting ourselves in agreement with God's Word. We are saying what God says about our situation.
Once
we accept Jesus, we are in right-standing with God through Jesus'
blood. We must focus on our righteousness in Christ Jesus (II
Corinthians 5:21). Through Jesus’ blood, we are already saved,
delivered and sanctified. We are already overcomers. We are just
cashing in our title deed, which is the Word of God, in order to get
what is rightfully ours.
If we confess God's Word over our
situation and believe that God loves us and wants to meet our needs,
then our situations have no choice but to change.
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