DB Clips: How Do I Overcome the Desire for Sin?
When it comes to a desire for sin, we struggle for one primary reason, and that’s how we look at overcoming sin. To much we see it as simply behavior modification. We think, if I could just build better habits or have more willpower I could over come it. The problem with this view is if it was just a matter of willpower or habits, we wouldn’t have needed Jesus to die for us to conquer sin in the first place.
This is at first a little counterintuitive to a lot of people’s thinking. We see it as our duty to resist sin. While this is true, we see it as our duty outside of God. As if that task is ours and ours alone. This actually plays right into sin itself though, to have us fight sin ourselves without God.
What was the original sin in the garden? It was a rejection of God. This idea that we could and should do what we wanted. To be on equal ground with God. To know what He knew, and be our own masters.
It was this go it on our own attitude that brought sin, and it’s this same go it on our own attitude that causes us to fail in our battle against sin today. Even if that is born from a desire to do good or please God, it’s only through Him that we can overcome sinful desires. If anything, our lives have proven time and time again that in ourselves we cannot win the fight against sin.
So how do we overcome sin if it’s not in our own strength?
Let’s begin to break this down by looking at Colossians 3.Verses 1-2 says, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
The first of the Ten Commandments is you shall have no other gods before Me. You will never break any of the other commandments without first breaking this one. As with all sin, it starts when we see something earthly and think it will give us more happiness that what God can.
Let’s take that thought and apply it to our verses in Colossians. My first step in overcoming a desire for sin is to set my mind on things that are above, primarily Christ. Setting our minds on things above means we aren’t looking to earthly things for satisfaction or happiness. The joy that I have in God is greater than anything I can find in life.
Going to verses 5-7 it says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.”
How do we put these things to death? The first step is in repentance. Salvation, what reconciles us to God happens in an instant, and can’t be taken. Sanctification is what happens for the rest of our lives after salvation. That is the act of us becoming more like God. Notice that our work to become like God comes from and after our salvation, not before. We have to repent and turn away from the things we used to walk in, looking to God for our joy.
There’s still the struggle though of how. How do I look to God? Let’s look at verse 10.
And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator.
Think of a topic you know and love. How did you get to that point? You spent time learning and understanding it. We have to apply that same mindset to God. If I am not spending time in His word and in prayer, it’s no wonder I’m constantly distracted or consumed by worldly things. In my own life, I have found the more I know of God, the more I want to know, and the less pull the world has on my heart.
So let’s summarize. We overcome our desire for sin by fixing our eyes on Jesus, repenting and putting to away the things in our life that caused our sin, and by renewing our mind with the knowledge of Jesus. No 12 step program, no state of mind, no willpower will ever overcome the sin in our lives. It can only be overcome when we put God first and live in the overwhelming love and grace of Jesus.
This sounds too easy for some, or maybe too hard for others. The difficulty comes in that it requires us to surrender and accept that we can’t do it on our own. This is contrary to everything we’re taught growing up. We can’t earn it or achieve it, but the good news is it is freely given that simply requires our surrender, and for some that’s the hardest thing to give.
If you’d like to learn more about this topic, go to our website at dbcc.com. Click on Grow, then Sermons. Look for the teaching series on Colossians and find the sermon titled Living the New Life.
Thanks, and God bless.