Pride, selfishness, deceit, and gossip. These are just a few of the sins I struggle with regularly. I don’t know about you, but the longer I walk with Jesus, the more frustrated I get with myself that I still struggle with the same sins. In reality, as long as we are here on this earth, we will struggle with sin. There will always be temptation. Our enemy will always be lying in wait for the chance to entangle us. But there are things we can do to help us overcome those sins that seem to continually be a stronghold in our lives.
In Genesis chapter 4, we find the story of Cain and Abel. They both brought offerings to God, but God did not find Cain’s acceptable. God’s pleasure in Abel’s offering and disappointment in Cain’s offering made Cain angry. God asked Cain about his anger and gave him a warning. Verse 7 says,
“You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
Genesis 4:7 (NLT)
God gave Abel an opportunity to subdue, or overcome, his sin. If you’ve read or heard the story, you know Cain did not heed this warning to control his sin. His anger led to murdering his brother, Abel.
Just like Cain, we can become slaves to sin if we do not learn to control it. Let’s not be like Cain, but instead heed the warning to subdue our sin. There are 3 things we can do in order to master sin.
- First and foremost, we must turn to God. We cannot master sin on our own. I know because I’ve tried countless times. We must learn to daily confess to God our need for His help to overcome the temptations that come our way. When we are submitted to Him, and we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit He will give us the power to walk away from temptation.
- Find accountability in other believers. James 5:16a (NLT) tells us to “Confess [our] sins to each other so that [we] may be healed.” A couple of years ago, the Lord brought a friend into my life who became my accountability partner. We share our struggles, our sins, and our victories with each other and sometimes spend time praying together. This has been one of the most helpful things for me in overcoming sin patterns in my life. Find someone you can trust and be open and honest with. Pray for God to send you just the right person or group of people to hold you accountable.
- Choose to obey God. Romans 6:16 says, “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God which leads to righteous living.” We have the choice of what or who we are going to submit to. We can submit to our feelings, our desires, peer pressure, the patterns of this world, or we can submit to Christ. We have to make the decision in advance, before we are faced with temptation, that we are going to do things God’s way.
Lord, I know I am a sinner in need of Your grace and mercy every day. I’m sorry for those times I allow my feelings, desires, and the pressures of this world to keep me from turning to You. Today I choose to submit to You and allow Your Holy Spirit to lead me. Surround me with people who will hold me accountable and speak truth to me. Give me the power to choose obedience to You and to be able to walk away from every temptation that comes my way. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.