How do I get victory over sin in my life? That’s a great question. The first thing to understand is that that’s not an unusual question because it’s not an unusual struggle. Just because you’ve become a believer in Jesus doesn’t mean that you automatically are a super holy person.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatian Christians that “the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please” (Galatians 5:17).
This is typical. This is normal. Your struggle against wrong desires—your struggle against sin—is totally normal. I’ve been a believer for over four decades and I haven’t found that my flesh has improved at all. It still has the same wrong desires that it had even before I was a believer. But, I have learned some secrets which I want to share with you as to how to get victory over the flesh.
Defeating Sin through the Indwelling Holy Spirit
The first thing is to realize that you’re in a battle.
The second thing to realize is that you’re not alone. Because if you are a believer in Jesus, God has put his Holy Spirit inside of you, and his name is ‘Holy’ Spirit. Obviously, He has a purpose, a function, a job, and He’s holy. Obviously, He’s going to help us be holy.
The Holy Spirit is very gentle. He’s not forcing anybody to do anything and we have to learn how to tap in to His power. That doesn’t happen automatically either, I’ve found. You have to have faith.
We’ve been talking a little bit about faith in a previous little lesson. Here’s something that has application for what I shared previously about faith. This is not hope. This is faith. Faith that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).
There’s the secret. Christ is the power who can help me and I can do anything that God wants me to do through the power of Christ.
Tapping Into the Power of Christ Within You
Where is Christ? Well, I know He’s seated at the right hand of God, the Father. But Scripture also speaks of Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27), which is another way of saying the Holy Spirit lives in us.
If you have the Holy Spirit, you have Jesus, you have the Father, you’ve got God inside of you. Obviously, having the ability of God within us—the Holy Spirit— is a game changer in the whole area of living a life that’s pleasing to God,
You have to have faith. If you’re thinking, “Well, I’m not sure I have the Holy Spirit in me,” or, “I’m not sure the Holy Spirit is going to help me.” Well, that’s self-defeating and you’re squelching the power of the Holy Spirit within you.
Believe. Believe that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Believe that greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). Again, quoting from the New Testament scriptures about the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
Make No Provision For the Flesh
Then another little secret that I’ve learned is that we need to, as Paul says, make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust (Romans 13:14). A better translation would be the flesh in regard to its desires. The flesh has desires and one way to make it more possible to have victory over the flesh is to make no provision for the flesh.
Now, what does that mean? Well, that means make it as easy on yourself as you possibly can. Avoid those things which would bring temptation. Isn’t this one of the things that the Lord taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer? Don’t lead me into temptation. I want to stay away from temptation because if I stay away from temptation, I’m much more likely to not sin. Amen.
If you’re near a hornet’s nest and those hornets keep stinging you, what do you think would be the best thing to do in that situation? Well, obviously, get away from the hornet’s nest!
If there are certain things that are causing you to stumble into sin, well, Jesus addressed this very topic Himself. He said, “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you… If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you” (Matthew 5).
No one takes Him literally that we ought to be gouging out our right eyes and chopping off our hands. We don’t actually even believe that our eyes or our hands can literally cause us to stumble. What Jesus is saying is that we should get rid of whatever it is that’s causing us to fall into sin.
A Practical Example
Let’s say you are walking to a place of business everyday. Everyday at the same place there is an elevated part of the sidewalk, and every time you trip over it. And you just can’t remember each time to watch out for that elevated part of the sidewalk!
Well, the way to correct the problem is to go a different route! Go to the other side of the street.
For example, let’s say your television is causing you to stumble and you’re watching things that you know you shouldn’t be watching. As you watch those things, something on the inside of you—guess who that is? That’s the Holy Spirit—saying, “Don’t be watching this! This is not good for you. This is not healthy for you. I love you. I don’t want you filling your mind with this stuff.”
Well, you’ve got to get rid of your TV.
You say, “Oh, my goodness! I couldn’t live without my TV.”
Well, you could. There are other solutions that are less drastic. You can create some method of accountability that if you live with somebody, you can have the television out in the public area. And you can say to that person, “Hey, I don’t want to watch certain things, so I’m putting this TV in a public place.”
The same thing with your computer, if that’s causing you to stumble. If you’re going to websites that you know that you shouldn’t go to. Well, if you have somebody else close by, around you all the time, that will be a deterrent to that.
Whatever it takes to avoid the temptation, get yourself away from it!
Discipline Yourself for the Purpose of Godliness
Then finally—and again this is a little lesson—Paul wrote,
Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. – 1 Timothy 4:7
You have to make a determination. You have to say, “I am going to take steps. I’m going to pray every morning. I’m going to get in the Word on a regular basis. I’m going to hang around other people who are going to inspire me to be holy. I’m not going to be giving into the desires of my flesh.” Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.
All right. That’s all for today. Thanks so much for joining me! God bless you.
