Living in Hope: Overcoming Ongoing Sin
In this article series on “Living in Hope,” I want to tackle this week an issue that all of us face at some point: overcoming ongoing sin. Perhaps you, too, are struggling with sin that seems to be winning in your life. The battle has been going on for far too long, and it feels as if victory will never come. If that’s where you are today, here are some simple steps toward winning the battle:
Realize an article alone can’t help you win. I’m glad you’re reading this article, but my words can’t give you all you need. Overcoming temptation is a war against a real enemy – and wearing the full armor of God (Eph 6) is about more than reading articles. It’s about understanding our position in Christ and then living it out in obedience.
Pray every day the way Jesus taught us. We can’t miss what He said: “Do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matt 6:13). Pray that prayer every day – as soon as you wake up, and before you face temptation. If you don’t pray about temptation ahead of time, the prayer too often becomes, “Lord, forgive me again. And again. And again.”
Quit playing games with your Christianity. We often wrestle with sin because our commitment to Christ has never gone beyond surface level. A real commitment to God, though, equals a real commitment to godliness. It means a willingness to lean on the Spirit of God to fight temptation and push against ongoing sin.
Recognize the enemy’s strategy to promote temporary pleasure over long-lasting consequences. The enemy blinds us by magnifying the fun of sin while also minimizing the coming conviction and shame if we do sin. His goal is to get us to focus on the temporary and assume that our sinful choices won’t bring negative repercussions.
Admit your vulnerabilities to somebody. If you’re fighting the war of temptations alone, you’ve made yourself unnecessarily more vulnerable to defeat. God never designed us to fight these battles alone (Gen 2:18); for that reason, get somebody else in the foxhole with you—and make sure that person isn’t continually losing the same battles, too. Somebody in an accountability relationship should be living out the hope of obedience!
Be aware of your patterns. Maybe your temptation happens most often when you’re alone. Tired. Angry. With the wrong person. In the wrong place. At the wrong time. Staying up too late. You know your patterns – so stop the fall before you ever get there. Just be wise in your choices.
Be honest with yourself when you’re rationalizing and excusing your sin. Most, if not all, of us do this—we find reasons to give ourselves permission to fall. Even when honesty demands that we admit we know we’re doing it, we still sometimes do it. Make a decision now not to go in that direction if you want to live in the hope of victory over ongoing sin.
Strengthen your spiritual disciplines. I know this step is basic, but it’s critical. When you learn to be in relationship with God through His Word and prayer, sin loses some of its attraction. Hearing from God in the Scriptures and then talking to Him in prayer turn our heart to Him and away from wrong.
Memorize Scripture, and keep it in front of you. Literally. Keep at least the texts below in your pocket, on your phone, or on your screen saver. Read them. Memorize them. Believe them. Use them. “God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.” (1 Cor 10:13);“Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Gouge out your eye if you must. Jesus used an exaggeration to make His point (Matt 5:29-30), but His point was clear: take every step you need to take to turn away from sin. Most of us will take dramatic steps toward godliness only when we long to please Him more than we long for anything else. The hope of the joy of victory pushes us to take necessary steps toward obedience.
Run. It’s really that simple. When temptation shows up, run the other way as fast as you can. Turn your head. Force-think another thought. Turn off the computer. Leave the situation. Get out your Bible, and run to the Word. Hit your knees in desperate obedience. If you linger on the edge of sin, you may well fall off the cliff.
Confess and repent quickly if you fall. If you do give in to temptation, don’t let the enemy so beat you up and accuse you that you never get off the ground. Run to Jesus, confess, accept His grace, and start again. Let His forgiveness renew your hope one more time.
One of my favorite writers, Charles Spurgeon, wrote these words about temptation: “The strength to overcome temptation comes from God alone, and the conquering name is the name of Jesus Christ; therefore, go forward in that strength and in that name against all your temptations.”* It is in Him that we have our victory.
And, consequently, it is in Him that we can have hope today even when temptation comes.
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