In all my years of being at church I have found that there is a tremendous emphasis on being godly - yet no one has bothered to tell me how to attain this elusive quality.
Can anyone help a sister out please?
There are ways to overcome grievous sin or to live godly (after being saved by God's grace through faith in Christ) (Note: To see a full comprehensive picture of salvation, check out my thread
here).
A believer has to be transformed by the renewing of their mind. They have to be willing to dedicate their life entirely to Jesus (holding nothing back). They have to be willing to give up the ways of this world for Jesus. They should stop indulging in worldly movies, music, books, comics, or sports, etc.; For Jesus said, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and come follow me. Granted, this may not be an overnight process. It can take time for a believer to deny themselves in many areas of their life. So they should not be discouraged but they should wait upon the Lord.
In fact, the most important thing for a believer who desires to live godly or holy should at some point drop down upon their knees before God and confess their sins and forsake them to be forgiven whether it be six sins or sixty of them.
Sins (like murder, hate, adultery, theft, etc.) lead unto the lake of fire if not repented of. However, I believe there are different ways to overcome grievous sin by God's Word (the Bible) and with the help of Jesus.
- Remove oneself from sinful environments (if possible) and or get rid of things that cause one to sin. In Genesis: Joseph had literally ran away from the temptation of sexual sin.
- Pray to God so as not to be tempted. It is part of the Lord’s prayer for a believer to pray so as not to be tempted into sin. God will guide and protect the believer if they are serious in praying for this. In fact, fasting will help a believer with this, as well.
- Obey God’s righteous ways. The more the Christian loves God and loves others and obeys His Word and stays in His Word and prays, the more they will not even have a chance to sin or do the wrong thing. For the more the Christian walks in God's Word by the Spirit they will not fulfill the lusts of flesh.
- When one is tempted, they should quote Scripture. When Jesus was tempted by the devil, He quoted Scripture to defeat the devil. So when some specific sin is bothering a believer, they should find all the verses they can that are victory verses over that particular sin. A good general verse is, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” A believer can say these verses to themselves silently under their breath (with nobody hearing).
- Ask for prayer from other God fearing Christians or godly Christians to help one to overcome certain sins. The Scriptures say, bear ye one another's burdens and thus fulfill the Law of Christ. So a Christian should seek true fellowship and ask for their help.
- Hide God’s Word in your heart. Memorize Scripture. David said he hid God’s Word within his heart so that he may not sin against the Lord.
- Confess of one's sins. 1 John 1:9 says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Anyways, I hope what I said helps.
With loving kindness to you in Christ,
Sincerely,
~ J.
