Why is it that certain sins seem to have such a strong hold on us? We do alright for a while, we think we’ve got it under control and then—WHAM!—we’re right back down in the dirt, struggling to remove ourselves from the chasm of temptation once more. The process becomes more and more discouraging and we begin to feel more and more helpless until finally we despair. We stop fighting. We give up hope of ever having victory in this area of our lives. We feel overtaken by sin, yet powerless to do anything about it. We long for God’s comfort and presence but feel cut off from Him, riddled with impurity and weighted down by guilt.
And probably the hardest thing about it all is that our enemy loves to kick us when we’re down. He’ll whisper lies like, “You’re the only one who struggles like this;” “If your Christian friends knew, they’d be appalled;” “There’s no hope for you now, you’ve indulged this sin one too many times. You’re beyond God’s forgiveness and grace.” Oh, sweet friend, my first word of encouragement to you is one that I myself desperately need to hear as well: You are not alone!
God’s Word says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man” (1 Cor. 10:13). Whatever your deepest, darkest struggle is, you can be sure that there are others who wrestle with it as well. We need only look at the cross to see how awful we are, to see what was required for our redemption from slavery to sin! So take heart: The most atrocious things about you were already published on Calvary’s hill, and the God who died for you loved you when you were yet at your worst (Rom. 5:8).
These truths are a comfort in our struggles with sin, but to accept comfort without battling that which threatens to destroy our souls is to accept defeat. So how do we overcome these indwelling sins? How do we break free of these ingrained patterns? A good first step is to ask ourselves honestly, What lies am I believing? You see, at the heart of every sin is a lie—a faulty thought process that has been etched into our brains like a well-worn rut on a dirt road. These pathways are usually formed early in life and require honest self-assessment to discern. Here are a few examples:
- The love of the opposite sex is better than the love of God.
- If I “miss out” on making my mark in the world, then my life is pointless.
- I deserve to feel a certain way; I deserve an escape from life’s sorrows.
- Having the right career/spouse/etc. will satisfy my soul’s longing.
- Doing things God’s way is restricting and will not make me happy.
As we begin to tease out the lies fueling our behavior, we expose the root of our sins and are able to strike at them with greater effectiveness. But that doesn’t mean the process is easy. Deeply seated beliefs will take time and effort to change, but thankfully we have a powerful weapon in our arsenal! The best way to counteract faulty thinking is to replace it with the Word of God. Let’s try it:
- God’s steadfast love is better than any love I could hope to find in this life (Ps. 63:3).
- This world offers fame, riches, pleasure and human glory, but it is passing away (1 Jn. 2:17). What God has in store for me in Heaven is beyond anything I could ever imagine (1 Cor. 2:9)!
- Life may be hard and exhausting and monotonous, but if I am unwilling to endure these things for Christ, then I am not worthy of Him because He endured them for me (Matt. 10:38).
- My soul’s longings are actually for God, and it is only in him that I will be satisfied (Ps. 63:1, 5–6).
- The world and the devil promise a false happiness that only leaves me feeling worse than before. Satan lies to me and tells me holiness is joyless and restricting, but holiness is the only true, lasting happiness (Ps. 112:1; 119:1–2).
Ok, we comforted ourselves with God’s love and the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in our sin battles; we searched our hearts and unearthed the false beliefs fueling our habitual sins; we pitted God’s truth against Satan’s lies… Now what? Are we automatically relieved of our sinful desires? Does temptation cease? Do we suddenly find ourselves perfected in this area? No. Frustrating, right? But we are hopefully better equipped for the next time temptation strikes. We are hopefully encouraged by God’s truth and His promises. And we are hopefully beginning to see how faith is the root of joy in the Lord, and that joy is the wellspring of obedience to His commands.
We often put the cart before the horse in these matters because we are naturally behavior-focused. The wrong behavior is apparent, so the right behavior must be the answer. But in reality the wrong behavior is merely a symptom. The real problem lies in what we believe. Try as we may, we will be unable to move our wagon in a different direction as long as we are still stuck in a rut.
So, beloved, before you work on your behavior, start working on your believing. Believe God’s promises to you in His Word; have faith in what He says about how we ought to live; trust Him for your happiness and your wellbeing, and the next time temptation strikes you will have your sword at the ready! The Bible tells us, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Jas. 4:7). We are not powerless in this fight! Though we may feel defeated, the truth is that our victory is not determined by what we do, but by believing in what Christ has already done for us (1 Jn. 5:4): “Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (v.5). Take heart, you weary and battle-worn saint—our King is in the business of renewing our minds and breaking our chains. He has defeated sin once and for all, and one day we will be free of it, perfectly holy, forever and ever. Amen!