The Besetting Sin in Your Life?

Pete (not his real name) wept as he described his Christian experience. Guilt was so much a part of his life, he was considering throwing it all away.  In the decade since he had accepted Christ, he had lived a roller coaster life;  times of joy, followed by defeat; weeks when he managed to restrain old habits, followed by falls into them.  Guilt had turned into fear and doubt. He wondered if God cared, if he could ever change.  Yes, but not by determination alone. He was trying to do for himself what only the Spirit of the Lord can do for anyone of us.

What’s sin do you come up against repeatedly?  What derails you, leaves you feeling defeated, breaks you down? 

For some, it’s stuff. They just want more and often spend themselves into a deep hole, again and again. 
For others, it’s sex. They never are fulfilled, are enslaved by fantasies, or pornography, or even promiscuity. 
For some, it’s work. They either love it or hate it.  The lazy man avoids it.  Others are consumed by work, slaves to performance. 

Some are tripped up by appearance, others by reputation, still others by religion.  Some can’t get over the past, some are so in love with the future they fail to see today. Still others are prideful and insecure.

Those things that keep coming back to defeat you are ‘besetting sins.’  The Bible says, "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. " (Hebrews 12:1-2, KJV)  So, how do we find freedom? There are three critical choices that the Spirit asks of those who would live freely. 

The first is to “lay aside the sin.”  Yes, literally, stop carrying it around.  Entrenched thought patterns, deeply engrained habits, give those sins their strength in your life. It’s amazing how we arrange our lives to accommodate our sins.  We make excuses for them. We give them new names so they don’t seem so bad.  Stop! Confess it for what it is. Look at it without the filters. And, God, the Holy Spirit, will give you strength to throw it away, if you are willing to stop dealing with symptoms and treat the disease.  Pray for insight into why you choose to spend too much, wallow in porn, pretend, or play too many games.  It may be that you need a spiritual director who helps you to get under the surface, to the real issues that feed your habitual sins. Often sin finds its power of us when we ignore a legitimate need or when we attempt to satisfy our hunger with a shortcut.

Second, we ‘run with patience.’  Spiritual disciplines are daily acts, not Sunday morning choices.  Scripture intake, prayer and meditation, practicing service, generosity, thankfulness, dying to Self – will produce a life that is rich in character, deep in Spirit, and steady in faith.  But, just as physical fitness demands ongoing exercise, spiritual health requires constant enduring practice of those things that open our minds to God’s work. A holy life is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. 

Third, we ‘look to Jesus.’  The Christian life is much more than self-help and/or positive thinking. It is discipleship. We are followers who desire to know and emulate Him.  This is not an easy question and you may not even understand it at first.  Are you really seeking to follow Jesus, or are you just looking for the benefits of being a Christian?  Do you love Him or just the things He can provide for you?

Pete re-focused on Jesus. He worked on his thought processes. He began to practice spiritual disciplines. He discovered new stability, real peace, and consistent victory over ‘besetting sin.’ You can, too!

Here’s a word from the Word. "Don’t tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They’re a lot of hot air, that’s all they are. They’re completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as he nourishes us. So, then, if with Christ you’ve put all that pretentious and infantile religion behind you, why do you let yourselves be bullied by it? “Don’t touch this! Don’t taste that! Don’t go near this!” Do you think things that are here today and gone tomorrow are worth that kind of attention? Such things sound impressive if said in a deep enough voice. They even give the illusion of being pious and humble and ascetic. But they’re just another way of showing off, making yourselves look important. So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides." (Colossians 2:18-3:1, The Message)