Resisting temptation

So many people have the assumption that Christians do not struggle with sin, we all do so long as we are alive we are bound to be temped, we will be tempted until the day we D.I.E that’s the word die not an acronym. Jesus told His disciples in Luke 17:1 that things that cause people to sin are bound to come. What are these things that cause people to sin? They are basically temptations. In other words as humans we are all bound to be tempted! That includes you, me, that lady who only wears white to church, the pope, that pastor in your church who seems to have  it so together you can’t even look him straight in the eye just in case he spots your sin. OK, so we know that now, what else do we need to know?  The difference comes in how we handle temptation, we can either fall into it or resist it. If we fall into sin, how do we handle this we should confess and this is a whole different topic for another day. Back to avoiding sin We are told that we should avoid sin and in various situations we are even advised on how to avoid it. Some of the temptations we are bound to face have pretty obvious ways of avoiding them though.

The truth is we all struggle with sin, i realized that i fail when i try to wrestle with sin using my own strength because i am super weak on my own. The other day I was thinking about this whole sin situation and praying about how to effectively avoid willful sin. So here is what I was reminded. That  as dear beloved children of God we should walk in the Spirit and listening to the Spirit. The Holy Spirit warns us of oncoming danger. Different people have different experiences when it comes to this . Have you ever been about to do something either good or bad and heard ‘something‘ tell you don’t do that or do this instead? Well many people call that their gut feeling and you will hear them say( you probably have said it too) “i was gonna take that bus but something just told me otherwise and wouldn’t you know that bus got into an accident” or ” i was just about to hand in my resignation for my current job but i had this gut feeling that i should wait and sure enough i waited. The next day i got offered a promotion and transfer that i had wanted all along”. For Christians we have a name for that is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was promised to the disciples “He will guide you into  all truth “ Jesus says in John 16:13. Side note: our guts are actually mainly for digestion. The Holy spirit convicts us of our sin and in the face of temptation reminds us of what sin is. The choice is therefore ours to either fall into temptation or resist it in Jesus name.  We are told in Titus 9:11-12

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to ALL men. It teaches s to say “No”  to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age ….”

Gods grace teaches us to say NO to ungodliness and worldly passions, therefore it’s not by our own strength that we resist sin but by the Grace of God. Stop fighting this war alone, you can’t win. Ask God to guide you and keep you from willful sin.

Often times however we choose to ignore that NO we hear and instead we listen to that loud yes when our human nature beckons. When we ignore the Holy Spirit we tend to fight sin by our own strength, we ask questions like how far is too far, we even try to negotiate with the Holy Spirit. You want to go to that party, Holy Spirit says no, you say just this once, once at the party you are asked “hey have you ever tried this?”

No don’t eve try it , you hear, just this once you tell yourself i  will stop myself from getting hooked. Get the picture?

Lets learn to stop and listen and act promptly when the Spirit speaks lets pray that we be sensitive to the Spirit. Some of us have been ignoring the Holy Spirit for so long we forgot how to listen you have so many voices in your head you don’t know which spirit is which. I pray that God will restore the joy of salvation and that He will renew your mind and relearn To be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

In concussion many times some temptations seem too great to overcome, be encouraged friend because ” No temptation has seized you beyond what is common to man. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tempted beyond that which you can bear. But when you are tempted , He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” 1 Corinthians 10:13

And a reminder from Romans 8:5

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who lead in accordance with the Spirit  have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

Lets set our minds on what the Spirit desires this year that’s the only way we will be able to see that ‘way out’ talked about in Corinthians 10:13