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How to deal
with
a sin problem
How to deal with a personal sin problem:-
Aren't you blessed? Jesus loves to handle any problem you might have in the personal sin area. This is what He says:-
1 Corinthians 10:13-14
There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
Did you know that sin is idolatry?
This is because sin is self-love at its worst. Sin is what YOU want, when YOU want it, and how YOU want it, against the pricks of your conscience. And you refuse to be sidetracked from it because you love it. That's worshipping an idol - YOU!
Does this sound like you?
If you are in THIS condition then no one can help you, not even Jesus the Saviour!
For Him to be successful He must wait until you reach a point where you HATE the thing you are doing, but can't stop it! Only then can He step forward, get your attention and say, "Let Me save you from this problem."
So if you are self-satisfied you should leave this site now!
But of course, you aren't like that, are you? or else you wouldn't be here seeking a way out of your problem. You can't overcome it.
You may have noticed in the Bible verses quoted above that He has made a way of escape for you already. It was right there beside the temptation. And, that He said He won't allow you to be tempted past your capability. So first of all you must trust Him. This is called "faith" in Him.
Then you can get to the nitty-gritty of the problem.
It usually works like this:-
You see something (or someone) you really want but it is unlawful, religiously speaking. There must be a great attraction at first or you won't eventually be dragged into the sin against your will. You know from past experience that the temptation builds up and up until it seems to reach an explosive point. Then you give in!
Or maybe you "lose" your temper often. (If you really lost it you wouldn't want it back!) No, you choose to pamper yourself and indulge.
Whatever the problem, afterwards you are usually sorry because of the consequences and if you go to God you normally ask Him to forgive you and promise Him that you won't do it again. WELL, STOP DOING THAT!! It won't work and you know it! You've tried it often enough.
Counting to ten, won't help either!
Here 's what you need to do.
1. Look at the temptation and acknowledge it.
In other words, admit to yourself that if left to yourself you will eventually do that thing. This is important, for you MUST NOT TRY to be good! Feel the strong desire rising and rejoice, because the stronger the attraction, the greater the salvation. Jesus came to save sinners and you must acknowledge yourself to be one before He can save you. If you are really bad, "the chief of sinners", then there will be great rejoicing in heaven when you are saved from the temptation. This is called "repentance" and is a gift from God.
Now you are in a condition where He can reach you.
2. Then you need to exercise "choice."
Put simply, you must choose NOT TO DO IT. Don't laugh, this is different from all the other times because this time you have acknowledged that you are not going to try and save yourself. But you must make a conscious choice against the sin. This is called using your "will" and attracts the attention of Jesus.
What then?
3. Now is the time to pray and ask to be saved.
What you do is ask Jesus to come between you and the temptation and expect Him to drop everything that He is doing and rush to your front. Not your side, but your front. He will step in between you and the problem. He will do this because He loves you and you need Him.
He has NOT COME TO HELP, He has come to save. If He should come to "help" then He would be saying that you can do some of it and He will do the rest. But right at the beginning you claimed that you couldn't help yourself, so now He must do ALL THE WORK. This is called "being saved by grace."
It's no good Him getting beside you so that you can do it together. Nor should He get behind you and give you a push - that will only propel you into the sin. Either way that would be giving you a chance to save yourself and then He would not be the ONLY Saviour there is. It would be YOU and Him. (It doesn't work to say, "Him and me" either!) That's why it is written:-
Acts 4:10-12
[Peter said] Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him does this man stand here before you whole. This is the Stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the Head of the corner [the Cornerstone].
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
He won't give you the "power" to use either, because that would only give you a swelled head thinking you're the best now! Besides that, you can't handle it, only He can, for it is a divine power.
Now watch what happens.
4. Jesus answers your prayer by actually stepping in front of you.
Yes, He actually does that. How He does it I don't know, because He is also in heaven standing before our Father and passing on our prayers to God. But I don't have to know - neither do you! On a "need to know" basis we are at the bottom of the file in the "mechanics" of salvation. What we can know is that it actually happens.
You can feel His presence there and it works a miracle! As you focus on Him the temptation loses its power (unless you try to peek around Him) and you can feel the urge subsiding in you. You can stand there and enjoy the feeling of being saved as it reduces in intensity! The greater the original pull the longer the subsidence - the longer the experience of being saved.
Then you walk away from the problem.
5. He has given you the victory and of course, now you can thank Him.
He gets all the glory and He can handle it. Because He is the Son of God He doesn't have a swelled head and get puffed up with it.
But there is a down side to this experience for Him. Why the temptation faded was because He took it into Himself at your request and He is feeling the effects of that "craving." Of course, because He is the son of God it doesn't affect Him like it does us, but He feels it nevertheless. He is "bottling it up" along with all the other countless sin/temptations He has accepted over the millennia and it hurts Him.
But, hey, this is not the place to discuss that! You are (or should be) over the moon because He has saved you and you love Him for it. Isn't He great?
THIS IS FAITH IN ACTION.
In the case of a sin temptation it will work for the born-again Christian EVERY time. That is, every time you want it to, of course, for if you would really prefer the sin (in your heart) no amount of prayer words can bring Jesus between you and your love. These experiences do not require much faith, or much prayer, for if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can move a mountain of temptation. Matthew 17:20.
6. Then you get ready for the next time.
Oh yeah! He has to save you EVERY time you are tempted so it's an ongoing saga UNTIL you learn to stop sinning. You'll still be attracted sometimes, but as you progress you won't waste His time by playing with the temptation. You'll ask for salvation immediately. And eventually even Satan will get tired of tempting you and work with better subjects. When you do that Jesus can also cut down on the time He has to spend with you and can get on with His work in heaven.
But be warned! The devil will drop by every now and then and suggest a return to the old days just to see if you are content. Or he will come to you from another direction. That's a hard one and you will need the guidance of the Holy Spirit to advise you that this is a temptation to sin in disguise.
By the way, a temptation is NOT a sin. It is only the preliminary to sin. So you can look at it and even be attracted to it without sinning. The "best" temptations are for you to do the "right" thing but at the wrong time. The devils love those.
If every Christian did what is written above then Jesus would be able to finish His work completely and come again to this world to resurrect those who have "sinned their way into the grave." There will be some who have learned the lessons and they will be waiting for Him at that time, rejoicing in the fact that He can not only save them from temptation, but also from all mistakes.
Would you like to help bring that time forward and be there when He comes?
Then go back to step one and repeat often.
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