What does it mean to have a besetting sin, a secret sin, or any sin at all that reaches its arms and continually tries to grab at us once again? What it means is that we are human, so take a little sigh of relief - but not for to long, because staying complacent, staying in the same place not only does not help us grow in Christ but also only helps to facilitate and fuel the attacks of the evil one, of this world, and even of our flesh.
So, who helps us with these problems? Romans 7:14-27, says that we face two selves, the one who wishes to follow God and the one who doesn't, these two are continually in a battle. Romans 6 speaks of us only being able to serve one master, either God or "not-God." These are our only two choices. With God, if you haven not noticed, there is no in between, in serving God there is no grey areas of life, for we are either serving God for his glory or serving for self, which leads to "vain glory".
Ok ok, so there is this battle waging within us, around us, inside and outside the church between good and evil, flesh and spirit, between being tempted and falling into temptation, between sinning and not sinning. What are we to do? Are we to give up? No. Are we to give in "so that grace may increase"(Romans 6:1). Of course not. Yet, we are also called to be holy, righteous, and set-apart.
What is a Christian to do?
The answer is that there is nothing that we can do in and of ourselves. We cannot rid ourself of theses sins on our own, nor can we ever be completely rid of them in our life. Yet, there is hope! It is the same hope that brought those who believe from death to life, from a trip to hell and now up towards the clouds of heaven - it is Jesus Christ. Yes, in Jesus we find hope to survive just a little longer until this life is past or we meet him in the sky after his return.
So, the answer is Jesus.. great thats a lot of help, right? I'm sure you already knew the bible or sunday school answer; however, did you ever consider the way that you define yourself. Many times when we have problems and difficulties we sort of take them on, we almost develop an identity with a certain problem, sin or with sin itself; we feel that we are chained to this sin, that it will ever be with us and we shall never be free of it. Oh, but Christ has released us from those chains. It is really only an illusion that you are chained, one created by satan to hold you down. While you, while I too, am so concerned with being chained, with not being good enough there is work out there that needs to be done, people who need to hear the name of God. Yet, we are so preoccupied with our own sin, with our own life and self that we are too blind to see it.
We must begin to see something new. We must begin to see that we do not define ourself anymore by the way this world may define us, or even how we would define ourselves - No, we are now bought with a price, we are not our own. We are now defined by Christ. We have power and strength in and through Jesus Christ, though the Holy Spirit that we so rarely know, think about, or tap into. When we define self by Jesus we are now shifting our focus from a mind stuck on sin and evil, now to a mind stuck on Christ and his goodness and glory. With our mind now on Christ we will slowly begin to find ourself not desiring to sin, not to follow the evil of this world and of self - no, we now will be immersed into the hope and goodness of Christ.
Will this be easy? of course not, anything worth having is never truly easy - but it is always worth striving for, persevering for, committing too, being accountable too... and that is what Christianity is all about. It is not just that first spark, that first moment of salvation but the ongoing process of sanctification, of pursuing holiness, that journey that takes us from being a naive child of God into being a man or women after God's own heart. Many times we are going to have to force ourself to read our bible, to pray, to go to church, and to stay morally right and pure before God in our decisions, remembering that we are witnesses of the most high God, who knows the intensions of our hearts. In the beginning training is hard, it requires much discipline and work - but later we will see the fruits of this in our life, in our relationships, and in our relationship with God the Father, Christ our Savior, and the Working of the Holy Spirit.
"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2nd Corinthians 12:7-10For the Glory of God,
Your brother in Christ,
Daniel
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