In general, it is common to find that in our lives we struggle with sins, temptations, or tendencies that we need to overcome.
Interestingly, just this morning before studying the Bible, I was praying for help to overcome one of them.
In response to my prayer, the passage I studied today spoke about the theme of overcoming sin.
I would like to share with you the reflections I got from my personal study.
For this, I invite you to read with me the bible text in question.
(…) understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.
So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
Romans 13:11-14
I would like to share with you four observations from that bible text that will allow us to get an idea of how to overcome sin.
Recognize the urgency of overcoming sin
The first point I want to make is that the apostle Paul is calling on the readers of his epistle to recognize the urgency of forsaking sin.
It does so by inviting us to recognize that the times in which we live show us that we are close to our redemption.
Therefore, it is urgent to wake up from the dream in which our sin keeps us.
In a condition of lukewarmness and spiritual conformism.
It is urgent to try to free ourselves from the evil that tied us to this world.
By recognizing the importance and urgency of the issue, this allows us to be ready to overcome sin.
Allowing Jesus to Protect Us from Sin
You may be reading this post with the expectation that it will tell you what you need to do to fix your problem.
However, a beautiful thing the Bible teaches is that we are not alone when we try to overcome sin.
Jesus is our ally in that process.
The apostle Paul reminds us of this by inviting us to clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Shortly before, he had also invited us to put on “the armor of light”.
What this means is that Jesus is our protective armor against sin.
Firstly, Jesus is the one who protects us from sin.
If we are trying to overcome sin alone, we have put ourselves in a futile battle.
What we really need to do is recognize our need for Jesus and ask him with perseverance to protect us and give us victory.
What we must do is cultivate a daily personal relationship of trust and intimacy with God.
What this will produce in us is an awakening and an awareness of spiritual things.
With which we will be able to better face the temptations when they come.
Identify what is sinful and turn away from it
My third point is that we also have a role to play in overcoming sin.
That role is to try to live decently.
That is, to identify what is wrong in our life.
Identify our sins, our weaknesses, and proactively put up barriers between us and these things.
Turn away from the bad, things like the ones the apostle mentions for example orgies, drunkenness, sexual immorality, debauchery, disentements, and envy.
Only you know what your sin is.
You need to identify it and make the decision to step away from this.
Avoid situations where we may be tempted
For my fourth observation, I will draw on the fragment in which the apostle says:
(…) do not worry about satisfying the desires of sinful nature.
In some other versions, they say, “do not make provision for the flesh.”
What this means is that we must identify the circumstances, thoughts, events, moments when we are most likely to be tempted to fall into sin and turn away from these circumstances.
By identifying the causes that are awakening our desires for that particular sin and limiting their ability to influence us, we will have gained ground in our battle.
This allows us not to cultivate in our lives thoughts or longings that lead us later yield the moment we face temptation.
Conclusion
God is willing to help us overcome our sins and live in harmony with what is best for our lives, our development, and our relationship with Him.
If we recognize the urgency of putting aside evil.
If we ask Jesus daily to protect us.
If we identify the evil and turn away from it, and if we avoid putting ourselves in circumstances where we might be tempted.
We will strengthen ourselves daily, and the old man will die inside us and a new man will take his place.
We can overcome sin by the hand of Jesus.
I hope these words are a blessing to your life.
Do you need to overcome any sin? What is the circumstance you are going through? Let us know in the comments.
Blessings and a hug.
