I did It Again? Really?

After another slip, a tearful evening and feeble prayers I looked for a little incite. I ran across this article. Does it help? Not much, but at least I know I am not alone... I have such a long way to go....

Struggling with Habitual Sin

Published November 8th, 2006 in Romans: Living the Christian Life

I wasn’t looking forward to Sunday night at all. I was faced with one of those passages that I felt if I said anything about, God would strike me dead in a flash.
The passage was Romans 7:14-25 where Paul talks about how he struggles with all sorts of things he doesn’t want to do, but ends up doing them anyway. Habitual sins is what we call these things - stuff that we know is wrong but for whatever reason we seemed powerless to stop doing them.
Habitual sins make us feel dirty and worthless. Paul exclaims at one point, “What a wretched man I am!” But it is important to realise here that Paul is expressing his frustration at his inability to beat sin in his own strength. It is not an expression of the truth, for Paul was not worthless or wretched, but a man loved by God. All through the Bible, and in many of Paul’s own letters, the fact that God loves us and thought so much of us that he went to great lengths to restore his relationship with us, is a recurring theme.
In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Paul calls each of us a temple of the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit dwells within us in a way that is difficult to understand, but in a way that illuminates some of the areas of our life that god is working on. Simply being aware of the sin that we know shouldn’t be there is a sign that slowly but surely, God is working in us. If he wasn’t, we wouldn’t know these things were wrong and we wouldn’t worry about it anyway.
The reason I felt so scared about speaking on this passage was that I struggle with these things like anybody else. In fact, I don’t think I’ve met anybody who hasn’t - those that say they don’t, struggle with the habitual sin of lying! But somehow we must be able to live, and grow, in our faith while battling the things we don’t want to do. Here’s what I suggested would help:

1. Commit yourself for the long term (Heb 10:36, 12:1)
Sadly, we don’t beat habitual sin overnight. It takes a long time, and we need to accept that. Christianity is a life long calling, a life of being shaped and refined as part of the unfolding story of God in the world. We can’t just give up when things go wrong or when we make mistakes. When you fall, stand right back up, dust yourself down and keep going! Perseverance is the key.
2. Keep doing God’s work (2 Tim 4:2)
It still astounds me that God uses people like us (ok, people like me) to do his stuff. It will probably take me all eternity to get my mind around that. But that’s the way it is.
One of the most insidious parts of habitual sin is that it can paralyse us and stop us fulfilling what God is calling us to do. We stop serving, and listen to all the voices whispering in our ears saying that we’re not worthy of God’s love.
However Paul encourages Timothy to be prepared to teach both in season and out of season.  In season when, Timothy is feeling motivated and enthusiastic, and out of season when he can’t see the point and feels like God is far off. Keep serving God!
This is not a hypocritical thing (hypocrites don’t care that they are living a double life) but rather a life of integrity that acknowledges the struggles and invites others to share the journey.
Doing God’s work can also help replace bad habits. Doing God’s work means we are forced to pray to seek wisdom and help; we’re forced to look more intently at God’s word to find out what it really means in our context; we’re forced to meditate on what God is doing in our midst. As we do, these things become habits and slowly replace the stuff we’ve trying to get rid of for years.
3. Enlist some help (John 13:34-35)
We can’t do this alone. It takes a combined effort with God and others.
Jesus told us to love each other in the same way that he loved us. Obviously we can’t forgive each others sin in the same way God does, but we can help carry each others burdens and keep each other accountable.
Simply knowing that somebody is going to ask how you’ve been going with a certain area of your life is often enough to change things dramatically. If you haven’t already, get an accountability partner, a small group or just ask a friend or family member to help you out.
Don’t think you can beat habitual sin by yourself. You can’t.
4. Remember God loves you (Romans 5:8)
Through all of it, never forget that God loves you. It doesn’t matter what you’re struggling with, how long you’ve struggled with it, how many times you’ve made mistakes or even how many times you’ll do it again in the future. God still loves you.
Paul says earlier in Romans, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
I don’t know why God loves us that much, but he does.
Draw comfort from that, and keep living your Christian life.