A young friend of mine (Bill’s) found that his life had become a nightmare of addiction, promiscuous living, brushes with the law, and loneliness. One night he called out to God for help—he was not seeking salvation, just deliverance.
In reply to his prayer, he sensed the Father’s reply: “You don’t want Me in your life; you just want Me to get you out of a jam.”
The truth cut through this man’s heart like a knife. He prayed, “Then do whatever You have to do to bring me home.”
The next twelve months of this man’s life were a virtual replay of the previous year. Finally, though, the reality of his situation came crashing down on him and he prayed to God, “Take my life, Lord. It is Yours’ to do with as You wish. Just please set me free.” He kept seeking God and seeking holiness, and today he is free from his sin problem.
I tell this story to underscore how much of a struggle it can sometimes be, and how long it can sometimes take, to be healed of a habitual sin problem. The soul prescription we have written for you—adopting a correct view of God, revising your false beliefs, repenting of your sin, defending against spiritual attacks, and fleeing temptation—is able to bring you to spiritual well-being. But that does not mean the healing is easy.
We all know the reality. We mean not to repeat a sin; we think we will not commit the sin again—and then we do it! The apostle Paul agonized, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate” (Romans 7:15). The same experience is familiar to us. We have to expect difficulty and spiritual opposition in doing what God wants. Nevertheless, the five steps represent a natural progression that can help us defeat sin.
We hope that today you are praising God for the victory He has given over your sin problem. But if it has proved more stubborn than you thought, you may need to work through the five steps more than once. That’s okay. As you repeat the process, you will be ingraining biblical truths of holiness in your spirit and drawing nearer to freedom. Over time, with God’s help, the five steps will move you toward complete freedom from your sin problem.
And of course, that is what you want: to be able to say in all honesty that you used to have a problem with a particular sin. You will repeat the five-step process if you have to, but you do not want to be on a treadmill of sinning and recovering from sin forever. Eventually you want to get off the treadmill entirely by putting your habitual sin behind you. It is possible to do this by being honest with yourself and trusting in God.
Don’t be overconfident, but don’t be discouraged either. God is capable of curing your sin sickness. Like my young friend, many have practiced the principles embodied in our five steps and can testify of the victory they have achieved through the Spirit. You, too, can be free of your troublesome sin—permanently.
Remember, the definition of victory for you includes not only being freed from your habitual sin but also having the opposing virtue established firmly in your life. You not only get rid of pride but also embrace virtue; you not only give up anger but also practice forgiveness; and so forth. As God deals with your habitual sins, the whole garden of Christian virtues blooms in your life. Most of all, you are filled with love, the mark of a Christian.
Will you permit us to pray a prayer of blessing upon you as you go out to live a life of love and holiness in the Spirit?
Heavenly Father, we pray for this dear child of Yours who loves You and wants to be holy as You are holy. Honor this child’s attempts to follow the path toward holiness laid out in Your Word, and respond with grace and power to every plea for help. Once and for all, break the hold that a habit of sin has had over this one, so that every temptation to renew the sin may be rendered ineffective. Crown this child’s virtues with a love inspired by Your own immeasurable love shown to us by Christ. And in the end, bring this child home to the place our Lord has prepared, glorified and shining with a purity that can never be tarnished again.
“Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Amen.