Do you ever wonder why you struggle with sin? I've been wondering that lately. I mean, here we are as Christians. We have the God of the universe on our side. We have the grace of our Lord and Savior. We have the promise of salvation. And still we struggle. I don't know about you, but I think I know why I struggle. I look at the times I've fallen down in my life, and I can, almost inevitably, trace it back to the "I wants". Whenever I make a decision based on me and what I want, I'm treading on thin ice. Deep down I want what God wants for my life, and that's to be more like Christ, so why do I listen when satan whispers in my ear? Why do I make provisions for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof (Romans 13:14)?
A lot of it has to do with immediate gratification. Most of the I wants immediately fulfill an current desire. We, as humans, tend to struggle with delayed reward, even though the reward we're promised is beyond comprehension (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Let's acknowledge before God, that we are wretched and that we can't do it by our power. Then lets exercise our will and surrender completely to His power.
Lord, help me to keep my eyes focused on thee. Help to make my sole focus a desire to be more like thee. In Jesus name, Amen.
6 comments:
not only the instant gratification...
satan's persistant. and he's loud. when satan gets to talking to us, if we don't turn to God quickly, He may choose not to shout to be heard over satan. (does that make any sense?)
i can't wait until satan can't reach me anymore. i can't wait til he's shut up (away) for ever.
but still...i try to count it all joy when i fall into temptations...
Oh so true Luke. It is so easy to tell ourselves that we are going to be "good" yet when it comes right down to it, it can be extremely difficult, even when we do have the best "intentions" in mind.
We need more than just our own self control and determination to conquer sin. There must be a decision of purity (which I could go into an entire spiel on that, but in short, I believe purity as a Christian is a decision more than a process, because as humans, we can never fully attain purity. You make the decision to destroy sin in your life as God reveals it to you, becuase you can be sure, one you take care of one sin, He will reveal another)
Anyway, good post. It really struck a chord.
Dona was right on the mark. Satan has a really big mouth! He lies to us ALL THE TIME and instills within us fears, doubts, hesitations, all sorts of ungodly emotions just to throw us off track! Even if we're not deliberatly giving into a specific sin: even if we're just fearing the unknown (death, the future, whatever) - we're still sinning. And that's how Satan works it. Little by little. For some of us, it's an outward act of disobedience. For others, it's an inward battle: and while I took us all on this fun little tangent... you all need to read "Battlefield of the Mind" by Joyce Meyer. W-O-W. Just wow. Read it.
Great post Looh-ick. As always, you made me put my thinking cap on. Good stuff!
God bless you today, brother. :)
I think it's worth mulling over the coexistent roles of our will power and God's power in our battle with sin.
Brooke: When you said you believe "purity is a decision not a process", what kind of decision are you refering to? I think I know how you meant that and I think I agree with you. However, I don't think it's generally possible for our flesh to decide to become pure and then bull through the tough times on it's own power. I think the decision part comes in the decision to surrender. It comes in the decision that I want to let Christ rule in my body and mind.
Kristi: My motto since around my freshman year in HS has been this: "A wise man learns from his mistakes....but a truly wise man learns from other people's mistakes."
Good question Luke. When I say purity is a decision not a process, I mean that when we become Christians, it is imperative for us to make the choice to constantly choose purity.
You are right, it is impossible for us to "bull through the tough times" because we are weak. By default, our flesh not only gives into temptation, it LIKES to give into temptation.
You are absolutely correct. We must decide to surrender.
Hi Luke,
Sorry for commenting on an old post, but I was blog-surfing and this post reminded me of the poem I just wrote and posted last night, called "Raw and Real". Feel free to check it out. You and your readers may find it interesting.
You have a lot of good posts. Keep it up.
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