For you are a slave to whatever controls you. And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. – 2 Peter 2: 19-21

Scripture tells us that because of Adam’s downfall, all human beings carry sin. Which means none of us will ever be perfect and spotless.

However, in the last few books of the New Testament, the Apostles make it very clear that when we are born again in Christ, our relationship with sin changes.

1 John 3: 9 says, “Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them.” And 1 John 3: 6 says, “Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.”

In basketball terms, what this means is that those who have truly accepted Christ as their Savior are not habitually committing intentional flagrant fouls in the game of life without any type of remorse or repentance.

What the Apostles were saying is that if we’ve had a true encounter with the Spirit, we should have an insatiable appetite for His word and His way.

The Spirit within us will compel us to stay away from things that we know are displeasing to God.

Of course, Satan is always busy and we have moments of weakness in our walks with Christ. But as believers, the Spirit will nag at our conscience until we get back in alignment with the will of God. 

Glaring sin just isn’t a regular, unchecked practice in the life of a true believer. So we have to be careful not to let anything that is not of God control us.

But if we’re genuinely struggling in some area of our lives, it’s okay.

All we have to do is look to Jesus and He will empower us to overcome the sin that is imprisoning us. Remember, we’re not called to be perfect. We’re only called to abide in Jesus to the best of our ability.

Be blessed,

Alexia

Prayer: God, I pray that you would bind and rebuke every distracting or demonic spirit that is trying to lure me away from you and into a life of sin. Help me to become strong against the temptations of this world so that I may worship you with a clear conscience. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.