Posted on 10/23/2021 10:21:10 PM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief” (Proverbs 24:16).
You are a sinner still; you still have a sin nature. The old man is still there. You can go back to Romans 6 and 7. Paul said that he did the same thing. My point? You have to know what to do with failure.
First of all, you have to know that God in some measure expects holiness, but He also expects something less than sinless perfection on our part at some times. I know that, theoretically, you could probably live sinlessly perfect for a while, but as far as stretching it out day to day, week to week, month to month . . . I have news for you, you are going to fall. You need to know what to do when you fall, and the chief thing is you have to get back up!
We get back up by repentance and prayer, reestablishing our relationship with God, getting back on your feet and not allowing yourself to be stymied to the point where you are just so frustrated by your own nature that you are so discouraged and don’t want to go on anymore. Don’t get there! You can always get back up.
I love Daniel 10, though it is not the exact context, but Daniel gets knocked down on his face—the angel comes and lifts him up to his hands and his knees—and then steps away and says, “Get up, Daniel!” I like that. I believe the Lord will help you up to a degree, He will encourage your heart, but in the end you/we are going to have to crawl up to your/our feet off your knees, right?
One grateful Christian anonymously wrote:
"Lord, I've never moved a mountain, and I guess I never will. Yet I'll tell you, Lord, I'm grateful for the joy of knowing Thee and for all the mountain moving down through life You've done for me.
"When I needed some help You lifted me from the depths of great despair. And when burdens, pain and sorrow have been more than I can bear, You have always been my courage to restore life's troubled sea and to move these little mountains that have looked so big to me.
"Many times when I've had problems and when bills I've had to pay and the worries and the heartaches just kept mounting every day, Lord, I don't know how You did it, can't explain the where’s or whys. All I know, I've seen these mountains turn to blessings in disguise.
"No, I've never moved a mountain. Yet, I thank You, Lord of Heaven, You have always heard my call. And as long as there are mountains in my life, I'll have no fear, for the mountain-moving Jesus is my Strength and always near."
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The thing about sins is that it rots the mind, and even if you leave it behind physically, the mind will usually always yearn for it, and you will battle it for life. You’ll see it everywhere, and have to fight and struggle not to cultivate immoral or sinful thoughts in the mind from there on out.
While Christ forgives the sin, we are still subject to the consequences of sin. Christ can help overcome even the mental problem of,lust, anger, greed, gluttony etc- but when a person steeps themselves in sin, they are pretty much doomed to fighting impure or sinful thoughts the rest of their lives. It can get better, but they might always have to fight off unwanted thoughts. And this can and does lead to feeling like a failure as a Christian often, and works to defeat a close relationship with God in folks sometimes.
I think the key is to recognize that you brought it on yourself because of poor choices, accept that you Will likely always struggle with it, and keep repenting as quickly as possible, and over time it will get easier to avoid situations where your mind goes to places it shouldn’t regarding the sin of immorality.
Also learn and live, by Hard work and constant reminders to yourself, 3 Important words
“I WILL NOT”
you need to WILL yourself to NOT do the things you formerly did. Paul talked about that in his preaching. He had to fight with himself over and over to crush his carnal, thought s into submission (and note, this can be applied to any sin, it doesn’t just have to be sexual sins, lying, gossip, anger, gluttony etce5cetc)
Be honest with God and tell him “Lord, I’d not NOT want to fight off the sin (whatever it might be), please give me strength to persevere through them”
God won’t usually take away the consequences of sin, but he WILL. Give us strength to fight and hold up under them. “My grace is sufficient for thee”. The key is to stop blaming God for not ta,ing away the consequences that we brought on ourselves, to stop blaming him for not thinking you are special enough that he is compelled to remove the thorn in the side, and to accept responsibility for rwhat we brought on ourselves, and to WILL ourselves to NOT keep immersing ourselves in situations, movies, books etc, that will cause us to keep on falling. To WILL ourselves to instead turn to him
It ain’t easy. The will wants what it wills. We have to train it to NOT want the former things anymore
Eventually, yes.
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