In some cases, we who believe in God through Jesus Christ, need to fight for continuous repentance. It sure seems easy when we are going with life’s flow, but as soon as a strong temptation arrives, the landscape sure changes quickly. I do believe there are also cases out there where repentance was an overnight achievement, and God delivered someone from their old habitual sin or lifelong struggle. That doesn’t mean that we who battle for an imperfect repentance need to feel inferior.

We serve the God who strengthens us with His joy. The God who guides man’s heart as He sees fit. He created Earth, its inhabitants in terms of both creatures and humanity, our entire universe, and beyond in both making Heaven and Hell. If He can essentially set humanity into motion in essentially less than one week, which I believe was a matter of example not out of necessity, He took that long. Most certainly He can take away our struggles with sin instantly. Yet, I believe there’s more at work than meets the eye or even our understanding. Maybe God knows we would become prideful if we could find immunity from all sin without His help. Even sins that have been conquered can show their ugly faces again in the most unexpected ways and times.

That’s why our wonderful Maker has also given us His provision to avoid sin, fight for repentance, seek His forgiveness, and receive His cleansing from all unrighteousness.

9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (NKJV)

We’ve been blessed with the full armor of God [Ephesians 6:10-20], the power to communicate with Him at any time from anywhere in prayer [1 Thessalonians 5:17], and even His Holy Spirit to protect and guide us through life.

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. John 14:15-18 (NKJV)

While we may win many battles, we also know that if we’re being honest we’ve lost many battles too. That doesn’t mean we should quit seeking forgiveness and obeying God in repentance. If it took us weeks, months, or even years to get stuck in the snare of sin – is it fair to expect for Him to extricate us from it instantly every time? We know that ultimately Jesus Christ paid the full price for our sin, so there’s no denying that sin’s hold over us is temporal at best. However, I think it’s important to understand that God may be using our problems to teach us deeper lessons. For one, He reminds us of our inability to overcome sin and evil without complete reliance on Him for provision. A second theory could be that He desires us to get rid of the sin when He can see the maturity in us to remain humble when we are in the clear.

I have struggled on and off with lust for almost two decades. I need to fight to repent from that sin practically every single day. There are some days where the temptation doesn’t even cross my mind, but then others where without God I would easily lose the battle. With God’s help I know I can trust in Him for deliverance. I have a complete understanding that it is sin, that I need God to fight it, and that it’s His desire for me to fully repent from it. I also know that just because my repentance isn’t a model of perfection that God doesn’t have any use for me. Quite the contrary, He has given me a testimony and He meets my desire to fight all sin for His glory. Thanks be to God that He has positioned me to ultimately win the war in Jesus Christ. I simply cannot let that long term vision cause me to feel daunted or strained in the near term. Sometimes it’s better to fight the battle at hand without trying to look too far ahead of where you’re at. Otherwise, it can become quite wearisome to look into future battles.

First of all that future isn’t promised to us, not a day is guaranteed.

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4:13-14 (NKJV)

Second, we may be more experienced warriors with a stronger disposition to fight those battles by the time they come. Lastly, as we acknowledged right out of the gate, God can completely transform our weaknesses into strength in a second if He wants to. We don’t want to worry about a future that may not even be an accurate reflection of reality.

34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34 (NKJV).

I want to encourage you that you aren’t alone in your battles. Don’t look down on your brothers and sisters in Christ who still battle with something you have been blessed to easily overcome.

13 “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV).

Relate to them in the loving understanding that we all fight different fights. None of those fights come easy for us when they are our problem areas. Thankfully, God knows our efforts and even what we do in secret doesn’t go unnoticed. Your old problems can serve as a beautiful testimony to another believer. If we can grow boldness to share our own journey, it’s only a matter of time before God can use it to bless others with hope and strength. I have been transparent with my weaknesses for years. You can read them in past blogs, see them in my Youtube videos, or ask me about them directly. They’re not something I want to rehash in every article, but suffice it to say God has either delivered me completely or given me His provisions to persevere in many battles since.

Do I still lose a battle every once in a while in some area? Yes. I am sure however that in my imperfect repentance, God sees me where I am at and helps me dust myself off and keep powering forward towards the finish line.

24 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NKJV).

We don’t have time to sit back and have a pity party about every little failure. Look to God and establishing His Kingdom, that’s one of the best ways to avoid allowing our minds go in the direction of harmful habits, addictions, or behaviors. If we cut the temptation right off at the root, then we don’t have to give in and deal with all the repercussions. All the horrible temporal and potentially eternal consequences that can come up can all be avoided.

Don’t give the sin more importance than it deserves. To my knowledge, I have likely never sinned against God while I have worshipped Him, prayed with Him, written for Him, sang for Him, or spent time in His Word learning. If you feel tempted with any sin, these will not usually be the first things on your agenda to do, but if you are able to fight through it, do so. I believe He will bless you with supernatural ways of escape. In fact, He will provide us these anyway. We simply need to be alert to them and stay in tune with what God is doing in our lives to notice them.

Stay in tune with Him, avoid sin, and enjoy His blessings friends. Life is too short, yet simultaneously too significant, to do otherwise.

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