FIGHTING to WIN against SIN.... yes it rhymes

I'm sitting here at 10:47 at night and although it is quite early, i feel like it's 2 am.

I was thinking about sin and the struggles we face during our christian lives. It would be great if our sin only affected us, only caused us to stumble, only made us to 'feel bad'.

But i believe the reality of 'who' our sin affects is vastly different. I can see how my sin affects not only my life, but the lives of all others that i'm involved with.

I will give you an example.
Lust is a good example because all guys struggle with this, yes even the ones who say they don't, yes even the geeky looking guys and the 'sweet' looking ones too. Let me point out, lust isn't just sexual, it can also be lust for anything that someone has that you don't... so girls, your included in this too!


I use to think that my lust was a sin that only affect me. However over the years of hard battling i have seen how it also affects others.

It affects how i view every girl in my life, how i interact with them, how i treat them. In turn, this will affect my relationship with my future wife. IF i do not have the courage to be a man of God and fight my sin, I will in fact inadvertantly affect my relationship with my wife.

How does Lust affect your marriage?
You see, the problem with lust is that it is SELF centred. You think about your own feelings, your own satisfaction, you become self centred and selfish. If you don't overcome your lust, when you do get married, you will still be selfish and instead of having a loving marriage where both partners look to pleasing one another, you will only look to pleasing yourself.

How else does it affect us?
It affects your ministry and your effectiveness as a witness for God to other people. The spirit of God is hindered by sin when you are ministering to other people. It is hard to feel the presence of the Lord and to properly respond to His Spirit and guidence. This will greatly decress how effective your ministry will be and how many people you can help lead to Christ.

Does it affect my salvation?
Simple answer is no, your sin does not disqualify you from entering heaven. If that was the case, no one would enter heaven. However, as a true Christian, there should be a strong desire in your heart to deal with your sin. If you do not have this desire you need to look closely at yourself, and make sure you are saved and know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.

Will this post ever end?

Yes soon :) but i wanted to cover a couple more points, mainly how do i address the sin in my life. What steps can i take to overcome my/your sin and be more affective for Christ!


a) Tell someone you can trust and be accountable
I can't stress how important it is to not try to fight your battles by yourself. Find someone who can hold you accountable and pray for you. In our church this means getting a shepherd!!!
This person doesn't come and find you... you go and find them when your struggling, call them up at 2am in the morning when your tempted to look at porn and say 'hey, i'm really struggling now, can you please pray for me'

b) Keep fighting even when you don't 'feel like it'
There will be a lot of times when you don't 'feel' like fighting and feel like giving into temptation. These are the times when you need to remember verses, and continue to fight. This is when you need to use the sword of the Spirit and pray!!! A great verse is 1 Cor 10:13

13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

-From this verse you can deduct that no temptation will come to you that doesn't have a way of escape... that may include, leaving your computer and going for a walk, choosing to change subject when people are gossiping, or even getting on your knees and crying out to God for help.

c) Keep spending time with God
Out of all of them, this is the most important. It is the Spirit of God that changes us, it is the Spirit that gives us the strength to overcome. Without God, you can't win. You might be able to do it on your own for a little while, but you will eventually lose. This is why it's good to come to church, youth group, prayer meeting and to spend time with Christians as you are built up when you spend time with God and with others that can encourage you.


I wanted to finish by saying, YOU CAN BEAT YOUR SIN, not because we are special or we have enough strength to defeat sinful habits ourselves. But because the Spirit of God is in you and God's Spirit can and will enable you to over come! AMEN


Romans 8:37 'Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us'