I have often be guilty of saying, “I struggle with ___________.” But the word struggle suggests there is a fight. Too often we say that we struggle with sin but what we really mean is that we lay down and willfully welcome sin in our lives as if there is nothing we can do about it; like we are powerless to it.
I have to give credit to Arthur Commons for opening my eyes to this fact years ago. It was one of those Peanuts sermons; you know, the ones that sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher. But out of the mundane came a burst of clarity; a juicy nugget that I could latch on to.
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I was one that “struggled” or at least that’s what I told myself. I struggled and lived in shame as a Christian porn addict. I believed the lie that it was something that I would “struggle” with my whole life. But just as Arthur said, I was substituting “struggle with” for “surrendered to.” If I struggled with anything it was the guilt and shame of my sin and not the sin itself. It wasn’t until I started to admit my sin and confess my sin to Christ and to others that the fight truly began.
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.~1 John 1:9
My confession had to turn from an admission of guilt to a true repentance. Even though that sin may not have its nasty fangs in my neck anymore I dare not say that I don’t struggle with it or I have beaten it or that I am in the clear. The Bible speaks to this in 1 Corinthians 10:12.
If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
My wife has been reading a book and doing a study by Ann Voskamp called The Broken Way. The book backs up what my wife has been saying for some time now. We can live the abundant life the Bible speaks about not in spite of our brokenness but because of it. When we truly GET that Christ died for us and loved us “while we were still sinners” we can begin to see the beauty of redemption. We don’t need to perfect for God. His grace is all we need. His power works best in our weakness. For a long time I have felt disqualified, unfit for certain positions in the church or types of ministry. But that’s a bold faced lie! Take a look at the who’s who of the Bible and it looks more like a list of unlikelys, down and outs, trouble makes, and weirdos. I still have a long way to go…we all do, but here’s what we can do:
- Live a life surrendered to Christ.
- Pursue His purpose.
- Choose to be kind to those who aren’t.
- Look and see needs around you and do what you can to fill them.
- Serve you spouse and love your kids.
- Treat others better than yourself.
- Admit your brokenness and let God work through it and not around it.
- Don’t believe ANYONE who claims or acts like they have arrived at holiness or looks down on you from their high platform but pray for them because, “pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
- Change the way you think. Craig Groeschel wrote a great message and study on this. Check it out! Seriously go check it out!
