Six (Easy???) Steps

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.”
Romans 6:12

Bible commentary:
“How can we keep this command to not let sin reign over us, to not give in to its desires? We can take the following steps:
1.) Identify our personal weaknesses
2.) Recognize the things that tempt us
3.) Stay away from sources of temptation
4.) Practice self-restraint
5.) Consciously invest our time in good habits and service
6.) Lean on God’s strength and grace”

We all are pretty capable of getting to #1 and even #2. But #3 and #4 get much more difficult to live out. It takes determination and a great amount of strength. It is easy to verbalize things, but to put action behind those words is a step many are unwilling to proceed to, which I believe leads to their downfalls. It is the will power of recognizing that yes, these things that “feel good”, or “temporarily satisfy/resolve a problem”, will cause havoc in our lives in the long run, and it IS worth it to stay away from the immediate gratifications not glorifying to God. Have you ever heard the saying Idle hands are the devil’s workshop? That saying is the reason step #5 needs to be implemented. The more time we spend investing in others and working toward God’s glory, the less time we have to spend mulling over sinful desires and entertaining selfish thoughts and actions. It all starts in the mind; hands down. I like that the list ends with step #6, because 1-5 are all key to cutting out sin, but without leaning on God, we WILL fail. We have got to invite Him in to be an integral part of our walk, and be willing to accept His offer and be filled with His power to get through.

I think this is a GREAT recipe for success. None of us may be perfect, and are bound to sin, but gosh, if we could actively live out these six steps we WOULD avoid a lot of unnecessary heartache. When I reflect on different life scenarios where I gave in to sin, I—without a doubt in my mind—could have avoided those sins if I had only applied these six steps to my situation.

This week’s challenge is as follows: memorize and act out the steps listed above. See what happens.