We know that our flesh wages war against our spirit.
Meaning: we naturally desire things that are pleasurable and easy. We naturally desire things that can lead to sin and destruction. That’s our flesh—our human nature. However, the Bible instructs us to crucify our flesh. Meaning: we deny what we want in order to choose what God wants. We tell our bodies to do what they ought to do, not what we want them to do.
Our mind, will, and emotions can all be easily deceived and tangled up with earthly things. However, our Lord Jesus tells us that we ought to cut off the things that lead us to sin. If something causes you to sin, cut it off.
Now, I have heard some people use this kind of thinking to justify cutting off relationships. Yes, if they are ungodly, there may be times when boundaries are necessary. However, even then, we are still called to walk in forgiveness and healing. We are to turn the other cheek, bless those who curse us, pray for those who persecute us, and give to those who steal from us. Everything about Jesus teaches us to do the opposite of what our flesh wants. We are to hold our tongue, listen more than we speak (hello… that’s a hard one! 😂).
Jesus Himself tells us that it is better to enter the Kingdom of God lacking something than to spend eternity in hell because we refused to let go of something that led us into sin.
Mark 9:43, 45, 47–49 (NLT)
🖐”[43] If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands.
🦶 [45] If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet.
👀 [47] And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, [48] ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’ [49] For everyone will be tested with fire.”
Well then, you may ask, **what is sin?**
Galatians 5:19–21 gives us clarity on this…
[19] When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, [20] idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, [21] envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
1 John 2:15 reminds us not to love the things the world has go offer, because if we do, they love of the Father (God) is not in us!
🤯 that’s a huge deal.
🌎 [16] For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. ⬅️
⚠️These are not from the Father, but are from this world. [17] And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
1 John 3:6-10 NLT
⚠️[6] Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is. [7] Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. [8] But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. [9] Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. [10] So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.⚠️
There is so much warning in this passage.
So what are we to do if we find ourselves living in sin that leads to death?
Repent. Turn from it. Cut it off. Stop weaning yourself off, and stop it and RUN from it. Every time we begin to sin, we must quickly repent and stop. Turning away from the wickedness and pursue righteousness by pursuing Jesus and following his instructions.
Why is one of the fruits of the Spirit self-control? Because we have to use it. It’s not something that magically appears. No—we CHOOSE it. Yes, it’s the Holy Spirit that produces the fruit, but we have the choice to walk in it or walk by our mind and emotions instead. That means we choose self-control to stop looking at things we shouldn’t be looking at. We stop overconsuming things we don’t need. We stop overindulging (yes, gluttony is a sin). We begin to strip off the weights that slow us down as we run after Jesus. We learn the words, “No, thank you,” and we USE them.
This isn’t me coming at anyone. I’m feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit for myself and feel I ought to share.
We must go all in for Jesus—not with one foot in the world and one foot in Christ. It’s FULL surrender. Full trust in him.
Did you know that pride often manifests as control? And control is rooted in manipulation, which is connected to rebellion. According to the Word of God, rebellion is compared to witchcraft. We have to relinquish our own rights, lay down our lives for Jesus, and pray, “Not my will, but YOUR will be done.” We have to have some self reflection, and recognize areas that we need to surrender to the Lord, repent of, and ask for the Holy Spirit to help us. It’s just as important to have a fellow strong believer hold us accountable. For me, that’s my husband. We must hold eachother accountable because we are the ones that see eachother at our best and our worst.
Accountability isn’t someone who never challenges you or corrects us. That’s called a yes man, and we won’t grow from that.
There is good news! No matter how far we have strayed, Jesus’ blood was enough on the cross! So don’t walk in shame and confusion. Walk in freedom in Christ knowing who you are in Christ, with humility and repentance. Keep on keeping on for Jesus. There is always hope in Christ. For we ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. This just is a reminder that we can start living mediocre lives, Luke warm lives, accepting a little bit of this amd that into our lives when Jesus has so much more in-store for us if we only choose Him over sin.
1 John 2:6 NLT
[6] Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
We are saved by grace thru Faith not that any man can boast. Ephesians 2 teaches us this. However, these other scriptures aren’t thrown in the bible for no reason. We only have to repent, believe, and declare who Jesus is to be saved. But if you’re living for any amount of time, the fruit of His Spirit will begin to transform you. Some say you won’t have to try as it’ll come entirely natural, I just don’t see that anywhere in the bible. The bible instructs us to take up our cross daily, to crucify our flesh daily, to take captive our rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. The bible instructs us to believe and to DO. The book of Acts is about the ACTS of the Apostles and Disciples. Their is action to be taken once we come to Jesus. It’s not always as fast as we would like, but their will be transformation and growth if we are pursuing Jesus and following Him. We aren’t saved by our works, but the works will follow those who are truly saved. You can’t follow in Jesus’s foot steps and head toward destruction. It’s simply not possible. If we are heading towards sin that leads to death that means we have our backs turned towards Jesus and are walking in the wrong direction. We can’t serve two masters.
Mary Smith Creative 