(1) Fight Pride and Engender Humility in Yourself Few things are more palatable to sin than an arrogant spirit. The very embrace of the gospel, on our part, begins with humility. Nothing in our hands we bring, simply to the cross of Christ we cling. We are without merit before God! An arrogant man cannot come to God for salvation. The Bible teaches that God gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud. Therefore, for a people who desperately need His great grace to conquer sin in our lives we must fight pride and engender humility. Use every possible opportunity to strike a blow against pride. Tell embarrassing stories about yourself, laugh often, recognize your need for rest, and pursue correction. By this means sin will not attach itself as a “right” or “privilege” to our arrogance. The proud man has no need of repentance and “deserves” whatever pleasure he gets from his sin, but the humble man comes weak and frail before God and rests victorious over sin in His arms.
(2) Share the Gospel Regularly Nothings serves a greater blow to our sins than sharing the gospel with those around us. Who can be arrogant in truly conveying the good news of Christ Jesus? Who can enjoy their sin while they explain the cross to a lost person? As we proclaim the gospel to sinners we invariably proclaim it to ourselves. As we tell them they are sinners, we point out the sin in ourselves, as we call them to repent, we call ourselves, as we point them to Christ’s satisfactory substitution on the cross, we point ourselves to the savior. What sin can thrive in this environment?
(3) Read Good Literature God has given to the church teachers and preachers. We usually understand this to mean our local pastors, and rightfully so. But implied here is also those godly teachers who have expansive ministries. Some dead, some living. So the great physician of the soul and prince of preachers C.H. Spurgeon has written wonderful literature to help you love Christ more than your sin. John Owen’s The Mortification of Sin is a grand piece of practical theology for fighting sin. Read good literature that helps you understand the text of scripture better and the living out of the Christian principles therein explained. Reading good literature will give freshness to your spirituality, new language to your theology, and new joy and vigor to your Christian walk. God gave us teachers, let us use them to help us in the fight against sin.
(4) Limit the Amount of TV You Watch Sin thrives in passive minds, hedonistic mindsets, and self-indulgence. Television has many wonderful benefits and is a great source of entertainment. But it can be dangerous. Your lusts are closely connected to the amount of television you watch, as your brain is bombarded with new products that you “need” and sexual images. Television can weaken your capacity to enjoy the spiritual things, to delight in God, and to resist temptation. The average American watches 7 hours of television a day, says one statistic. Another group of stats says that upon graduation from high school an average TV viewer will have watched two years worth of television. What a waste and what a damage this does to our minds. How can two years worth of television prepare us to meet our maker? Limit the amount of TV you watch and not only find better use for your time, but find less tastes for sin.
(5) Breed Contentment with Little in Your Heart The Christian that takes, wants, and needs more in this life is not storing up treasures in heaven. This life is so fleeting. When we look back over it from the perspective of eternity it will seem as a blip on the radar screen of existence. Let your heart be satisfied with little and you will find more room to delight in Jesus. Materialism and joy in God do not go hand in hand! “You can not serve God and money.” Restrict your personal purchases. Take things away for a month. Force yourself to be without in little ways and see if they do not affect your contentment on the grander scale with less. The heart that wants more stuff, has less room to desire Jesus.
(6) Look to Eternity Beyond this Life in Heaven with Christ The Old saying that a Christian can become “So heavenly minded that he is no earthly good,” has lost its relevance for today. More often than not we have quite the reverse: A Christian is so earthly minded that he is no heavenly good. We exist to glorify God, not to feed ourselves. Remind yourself that this life is a vapor and that eternity is just what it says it is “eternal.” Life with Christ will be forever after this short stay on earth is done. What will you have to show God on the day of judgment? A sea shell collection, a boat, full bank, a nice car? These matter none to Him, and on that day they will matter none to you. Live for eternity and do not think that this life is all there is. Do not live as though there is no future beyond the grave! Kill sin by turning your thoughts towards heaven where Christ is and where nothing else matters.
(7) Be Aware of Your Weaknesses and Flee Temptation Joseph knew as he encountered Potiphar’s wife seducing him, that he must flee, even without his tunic. The temptation was so strong, the sin so real before him, that he fled and did not even think twice about leaving naked. He had to get a way that bad and that quick. Know your own weaknesses, Satan does and he will fling everything at you to tempt you. If there are things in your life that lead to temptations cut them out. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that if your eye or hand caused you to sin then you were to cut it off and throw it into the fire. In the Semitic world the right eye represented what was most desirable and the hand what was most useful. So no matter what you love or need, if it causes you to sin get rid of it. There are far too many unavoidable temptations to bare those that we don’t need.
(8) Preach to Yourself More than You Listen We are a people who listen to ourselves. We are driven by emotions, and what we feel is the real. But we must preach the words of Scripture to ourselves and drowned out the noise of our own lies. If we doubt preach the promises of God, if we struggle with lust, preach the joy of God and the threat of judgment. If we need hope, preach the resurrection and return of Christ from the Bible. Tell yourself what God’s word says and do not believe the emotional lies that God does not care, is not near, will not judge, and cannot find out. Never let sin lull you to sleep, preach the word to yourself daily.
(9) Confess Daily Before God in Humility and Sincerity You are a sinner and most of us, if not all of us, sin every day. Even post-conversion we still struggle around in this body of flesh. Paul sighed that he did not know why he did what he didn’t want to. We are all like this, and thus we must confess our sins daily before a Holy and Righteous God. But we know 1 John 1:9, that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Don’t confess what isn’t there, however. Don’t invent sins so that you might confess them daily, this is hypocrisy, in which case you would have a sin to confess. Be as sincere as you can, and when you don’t feel sincere pray that God would make you to be so. Confess real and specific sins, and trust in God’s grace and forgiveness.
(10) Periodically Fast from those Things You Love We can often let the simple joys of this life replace joy in God. We can take more pleasure in the gift than the giver. This is frequently a problem with food. Dinner becomes the meal where we lay our burdens down and forget our troubles. We take comfort in a warm, home cooked meals. But God is to be the one to whom we run and put our burdens before. Whether it’s TV, food, sex with spouse, or even something like the news, we can all create idols out of the things of this world. It is an aid to us in the war on sin if we will periodically fast from those things that rob God of His rightful place. Reorganize and prioritize your interests and make sure God is at the center of them all. Purge yourself frequently and wash out the sins that hide in our simple joys and daily routines.
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 