Thirteen Ways to Fight Sin
Thirteen Ways to Fight Sin
Last week we looked at various reasons to fight sin given by Wayne and Joshua Mack in their book, A Fight to the Death: Taking Aim at Sin Within (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2006). This week we will consider the various ways they put forth to actually fight sin. I found thirteen specific ways they suggest for fighting sin. In several instances I have reworded them because I find that when I put things in my own words I typically understand them better and remember them longer. In the limited space I have I can do no more than give a brief elaboration of each point.
1. Refuse to let sin have power in your life. Determine that you will master it instead of letting it master you.
2. Fight evil desires. Go to war against sin in your life.
3. Kill evil desires. Don’t stop fighting sin until it is dead and laid to rest in the grave (which means you will be fighting sin all your earthly life).
4. Rely on the Holy Spirit. He is your support, fighting alongside of you, giving you the ability to resist temptation and put sin to death.
5. Reflect often on the meaning and purpose of Christ’s death. Christ died to separate you from sin, therefore make sure you don’t work against the very purpose for which he came.
6. Consider how sin reflects on the Lord. When you sin, it gives unbelievers an opportunity to say, “Is that all Jesus Christ can do?”
7. Remember that your sin impacts others. Sin has a ripple effect, causing pain and problems for those around you.
8. Remain on guard against sin by staying away from anyone or anything that tend to stir up evil desires. Determine to keep away from bad influences and situations that cause you to want to sin.
9. Be especially on alert during times of prosperity, extra free time, or following a spiritual high. Often the good times in your life turn out to be the times when you are most vulnerable to yielding to temptation.
10. Be aware of your own weaknesses. It might be pride, a bad temper, stubbornness, gullibility, sexual immorality, or something else.
11. Immediately say “no” to temptations. Every sin has a sales pitch. Refuse to listen to it. Get away as fast as you can. Don’t play around with it.
12. Learn from your failures and the failures of others. Find out what steps led up to the sin and take active steps to keep them from happening again.
13. Pray. Prayer taps us into divine power, the only power strong enough to keep us from sin.
That’s quite a list. The Mack’s base their work on two key texts:
“…if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13).
“Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).