Dealing With Recurring Sin

This is a long article by an unknown author, but it is worth the read!

I.  WALKING IN THE SPIRIT

It is God Himself who sanctifies us as we walk in the Spirit moment by moment.  But He has given us instruction in His word as to how that process takes place.  The following principles are guidelines for walking in the Spirit in problem areas.

            A.  Willingness – not Will-power

           It is in areas of recurring sin that we are the most tempted to implement self-improvement 

           programs – with a subtle “we try harder” approach to conquering the problem. God does not 

           ask us to “try harder”, which implies struggle.  He only asks that we admit that it is sin,   

           confess it and surrender complete control of the problem to Him.

            Surrender, according to Webster’s Dictionary, means to “yield or hand over to the power of 

            another; to resign; to cease resistance”.  We are to surrender our natural desire to have our 

            own way and to think our own thoughts, which is rebellion, and surrender to God’s authority 

            in our lives.

            Avoid repression:

           

            Repression of wrong thoughts or actions by sheer will-power simply leads to an explosion 

            of the problem when our resistance is down.  Earl Radmacher gives an excellent illustration 

            of this principle.  Visualize a pot boiling over a fire and steam coming out of the pot. 

            Racmacher says that the steam of behavior is visible proof that the fire of thought is boiling 

            the pot of emotion.  If we are dissatisfied with the behavior, our tendency is to slam a heavy 

            lid on the pot.  But that merely results in a big explosion when the lid blows off.  God’s 

            solution is to cool the fires of thought.

            B.  You have a new mind in Christ.

            Ultimately our life is an expression of what we think about.  “As a man thinks in his heart, 

            so is he.”  Prov.23:7

            In Romans 7 Paul talks about his struggle with the flesh. Then in Romans 8 he breathes a 

            sigh of relief to know that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and   

            who walk in the power of His Spirit.  He goes on to describe how the Spirit-filled Christian  

            thinks. In verses 5,6 and 7, he says that those who walk according to His Spirit get their minds 

            on the things of the Spirit.  Just as our lives are an expression of our thoughts, so the life of 

            Christ is the expression of His mind.  As one writer put it:

His mind is now ours by endowment.  We have the mind of Christ – but now as we mature, it must become ours by development.  Otherwise we will experience a constant struggle against the promptings of an un-Christ-like mind.

Norman B Harrison

Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold:

            Before coming to know Christ, or learning how to walk in the Spirit, we developed some 

            deeply ingrained thought patterns which were conformed to the world system of values; 

            i.e., if it feels good, do it; or, if it tastes good, eat it!

            Walking in the Spirit is the exact opposite of being conformed to the world.  Romans 12:1,2 

            says that we are to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing 

            of our minds, that we may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable 

            and perfect. 

            Brainwashed with Scripture:

            We need to saturate our minds with the truth in the areas where we are easily tempted and 

            easily deceived – literally, brainwashed by Scripture.  Paul says in Colossians 3, “if we’ve been 

            raised up with Christ, we need to keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the 

            right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things that are on the earth.”

            C.  Prayer and praise

            In any area we know to be the will of God we can pray with complete confidence that He 

            will hear and answer (1 John 5:14-15).  Pray specifically that God will alert you, through 

            the power of the Holy Spirit the moment that wrong thinking begins so that you can 

            immediately say no to wrong thoughts and yes to right ones.

            A trap that we can easily fall into is that of forgetting the countless blessings in our lives 

            and focusing on the one restriction.  That was satan’s tactic with Eve in the garden.  Praise, 

            however, is the great antidote to that malady.  Praise turns our attention to all that we are 

            and have in Christ Jesus and thanks Him in advance for the victory.  “Greater is He that is 

            in us than he that is in the world!” (1 John 4:4).

            D.  Jesus wants to meet your needs

            The word “tempt” means to entice, to do wrong by promise of pleasure or gain.  We are 

            most vulnerable to temptation when we have some kind of need for “pleasure or gain”.  

            We may feel tired, frustrated, rejected, unappreciated, angry, overworked or simply that 

            we “deserve a break today”.  Or we may be excited and feel like celebrating, believing the 

            subtlety that “you only go around once in life…so grab all the gusto you can”. 

            Whatever we need or however we feel, we’re tempted to take the path of least resistance 

            to comfort and pleasure – only to discover that the problem simply multiplies.

            The moment wrong thinking begins, we need to ask, “What do I really need?”  Then turn 

            to Jesus and ask Him to meet it.  Expect that our Father will meet our needs because He 

            has promised to do so.  Phil.4:1.

            E.  You can have victory over temptation

            Temptation is common to man and temptation itself is not sin.  Here it is important to 

            remember God’s commitment to us as found in 1 Cor.10:13:

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.”

 Whereas once we habitually entered into temptation, we can now habitually take God’s 

 promised way of escape.

            Jesus exemplified what it means to take the way of escape when He was   tempted in the 

            wilderness.  He was tempted to turn the stones into bread and thereby meet His own needs  

            His own way, rather than trusting the Father to meet them.

            His immediate response to temptation was to submit to the Father’s will by redirecting His 

            thoughts to what was true rather than how He felt.  He answered the tempter by saying, 

             “It is written…”

            In the same way, the moment the Holy Spirit alerts us to wrong thinking, we can choose to 

            submit our will to God’s and redirect our thoughts to what is true, rather than how we feel.  

            Often there will be a momentary resistance to submit our will to God’s because of man’s 

            natural tendency to exert his own will.  “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful 

            but sorrowful. But afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Heb.12:1). It is 

            interesting to note that it was after Jesus submitted to God’s word that the angels came and 

            ministered to Him. 

 “All we do is throw the switch by saying ‘No’ to wrong thoughts and ‘yes’ to right ones. And the energy from His enormous source of power flows through us and energizes us to do the very thing we want to do and that He wants us to do.” 

Dr. George Sanchez

  

 II.  OBSTACLES TO WALKING IN THE SPIRIT IN PROBLEM AREAS

            A.  Discouragement

            One common problem that arises is in the area of discouragement. Discouragement is one 

            of the number one problems in the Christian life.

            If we can recognize discouragement for what it is, perhaps we can deal with it more 

            objectively.  Hannah Smith tells the allegory of satan calling together a council on how to  

            defeat Joe Christian.  The most effective idea presented was that of the imp who said, “I 

            will discourage his soul.”  “That will do it”, satan said triumphantly.  (James 1:13-15)

 Discouragement never has its source in God, because discouragement is the exact opposite if faith – believing God.  The problem is not that we face an unconquerable problem but discouragement causes us to believe that it is – and we become convinced that victory is not possible.

 

B.  Focusing on the problem

            Obstacles come in many ways, shapes, and forms – most of them subtle.  Another common 

            one is when we focus on the problem.  This is especially true immediately after we   

            experience defeat and are acutely aware of the problem. We need to remember that 

            whenever we do sin, “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”.   

            (1 John 2:1).  We are not to make resolutions that it will never happen again, but simply 

            confess the sin and move on “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.” 

            (Heb.12:1-2).

            C.  Focusing on ourselves

            Another common obstacle is that of focusing on ourselves and our own inability to deal 

            with the problem.  Looking at our own weaknesses we naturally become discouraged.  But 

            God wants to bring us to the point where we can see our own weaknesses revealed and not 

            be discouraged, but simply realize that our adequacy is not in ourselves but in Christ.  Paul   

            says, “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, 

            but our adequacy is in Christ” (2 Cor.3:3).  God never encourages people as to their own  

            ability to handle a task or deal with a problem.  He simply reminds us of our total sufficiency 

            in Him.  The following promises are examples:

            “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”  (Jer. 32:27)

“There is no temptation which has overtaken you that is not common to man.  But God is faithful and will, with the temptation provide a way of escape that you may be able to endure it.”  (1 Cor.10:13)

“If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us and if we know that He hears us, we know that we have the requests which we have asked of Him.”    (1 John 5:14-15)

            “For nothing will be impossible with God.”  (Luke 1:37)

Maturity in these areas takes time – it is a life-long process.  However, a concentrated application of these principles can help us understand them more clearly and begin a habit of applying God’s principles for a lifetime.