Tuesday October 26, 2010

Read Colossians 3:1-10

It may seem as though we are going backwards in our reading but the issue of putting to death the earthly nature of the body (the lusts and desires of the flesh) is such an important topic that it needs further consideration.

Let me suggest several ways and strategies to move forward in this area of putting to death the misdeeds of the body:-

Firstly, you must want to change. Many people lament their sins only because they are caught. Deep down they have no desire to change. If this is true for you, you will always make excuses and find reasons

1. to indulge your sinful nature. Ask God to change you from the heart, from the inside out. Spend time pleading with Him to change you .

2. Learn and memorise the Word of God that relates to your temptation. You must know what the Word says about your particular temptation. Get searching for relevant verses and memorise them. When I am tempted, the Lord brings a relevant verse into my head/heart. It’s very hard to sin when the Word of God is uppermost in your head/heart.

3. Know, realise and understand that you will be called to account for your sinfulness. As you are struggling with temptation, ask yourself  this question, “How will I explain this sin (be specific, eg adultery, idolatry, drunkenness etc) to the Lord?” Though you may forget this incident in a few days or weeks, God will not.

4. Have an accountability partner with whom you can share your struggles on a regular basis. If your computer or phone is the issue, get them to look at it regularly or install software that emails the sites you visited to the other person. Meet regularly and confess to each other and pray for each other. Make sure that you can ring this person the moment you are struggling with temptation.

5. Take note of the way in which temptation comes to you, the times it comes, and the areas in which it attacks you. As you realise the recurring pattern you can take proactive steps to ward off temptation. One fellow realised that watching TV late at night caused him to fall regularly because he channel surfed and was soon hooked on watching inappropriate shows. In his fight against temptation he refused to watch TV without his wife present and put a lock code on the TV that only his wife knew. The TV was locked from 8:30pm until the morning.

6.  Listen and learn the way that your mind deals with temptation. Often we tend to flirt with it and skirt around its edges. We let a subtle form of temptation into our mind or heart and enjoy the sweet smell of it. It’s only a small step from here to indulge that temptation. As soon as we start smelling temptation we need to take immediate and drastic action.

7. Take note of the way that you justify giving into temptation and indulging your sinful nature. You need to stop this justifying reasoning. You need to realise that in God’s eyes there is no justification for your sinfulness.  In God’s eyes what you did or are doing is an abomination and He hates it, no matter what circumstance you are in and no matter what justification you give.

8. Replace sinful behaviours with righteous ones. If you read Philippians 4:6-8, Ephesians 4:28 etc you’ll see that to successfully stop a sinful habit, you need to replace it with a godly habit. The man who steals must do something productive with his hands so that he can give to the needy. What godly, righteous things can you start doing to replace the evil and wicked habits in your life?

9. Realise that every thing you do either feeds your habits and addictions or mortifies them. There is no safe ground when it comes to sinfulness. You cannot and should not flirt with sin, thinking that you can slightly peer over the edge and have just a little look. You will be hooked and dragged into full blown sin very quickly. Run, flee from temptation as soon as it knocks at your door.

Prayer:-

ÿ If you struggle with a particular sin then spend time confessing it to God. Tell Him about it and ask Him to change you from the inside out. Ask for wisdom to know how to move forward in godliness and righteousness. Plead with God to strengthen you and make you more and more holy and more like Jesus.