Struggling to turn away from sin

Hi,

And it is very difficult to stay repentant. I've often observed that hopeful people are less sorrowful and seem to be happier people. Have you considered Psalm 43:5?

It may be helpful to write or journal those things that cause you to feel burdened or think afflicting thoughts and gather ideas that may help you to overcome such thoughts. Then, as you read back, observing your thoughts for useful ideas (strong points), you may exercise faith in the power and love of God. Please remember that there is never a time when we cannot find hope and strength in God, whatever our need or however great our difficulty may be, we can endure while showing unshakable faith.

I hope that you find inspiring projects and aim at showing in creative ways how you can avoid thoughts or deeds that lead to those discouraging feelings. None are perfect and temptations are related to all humans. Just keep looking for therapeutic effects on your mind. Learn to channel your thoughts to happier places as certain things trigger you to feel shame, guilt or embarrassed, think to upload those matters to happier thoughts. And what might seem dramatic might only be a chance for you to learn those skills which will help you to see people or the world in a fascinating way and not just how you are at fault with your choices and ways of dealing with life. Please don't see yourself as the cause of a problem; however, see yourself on a positive note.

Best.

When I was stuck with sin, Jesus told me to thank Him for forgiveness rather than wallow in guilt and shame and let that 'Dragon' in my guilty conscience roast me all the time. (Rev 12)

A real battle to thank Jesus for forgiveness and not to fall for guilt and shame!

However I found that love and thankfulness grows in our heart towards Jesus and begins to challenge and break down the sin that was present there.

This is a process that takes some time, the stronger the sin, the more love and thankfulness towards Jesus needs to spring to life. For the more love and thankfulness dwells in our heart towards Jesus the less power sin has over us.

So try it, let thankful love grow stronger than your sin.

it is a battle within ourselves and our hearts condemning us can serve us but it can also keep us separated from God sometimes but God is greater than our heart.

1John 3:18-4:4 (SLT)
My little children, we should not love in word, neither in tongue; but in work and truth. And in this we know that we are of the truth, and we will yield our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Dearly beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have freedom of speech towards God. And whatever we ask, we receive of him, for we keep his commands, and do things pleasing before him. And this is his command, That we believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us command. And he keeping his commands remains in him, and he in him. And in this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit he gave us. Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they are of God: for many false prophets have come out into the world. In this ye know the spirit of God: Every spirit which acknowledges Jesus Christ having come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit which acknowledges not Jesus Christ having come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that of antichrist which ye have heard comes; and now is already in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have conquered them: for greater is he in you, than he in the world.

so we must resist all evil spirits simply by clinging purely to God who loves us even when we condemn ourselves and him. we who are a little child God does love. by clinging to God the evils become cast out and conquered, by being in the world or the self that we have become due to the world we deny Christ. but Christ came to the world to save sinners. we resist evil by always choosing God who is good and we pray to God for the Holy Spirit and we wait and do not trust anything that exalts itself above God.

here is Gods summed up message of the gospel.
1John 1:5 (SLT)
And this is the message which we have heard from him, and we announce to you, that God is light, and no darkness is in him.

God is light and there is no darkness at all in him, this means God is not evil and wishes us no ill or harm but rather he loves us and he is always calling us to come and stay with him in the light of all goodness and to never accept any darkness at all because it separates us from him and from loving others. so if our heart is telling us anything bad about God then we know not to trust it but to rather give our heart to God that we may be whole and well. we must learn the goodness of God enough to see that to sin keeps us away from the beauty of God who is all good things. only by the power of God can we stop doing evils but it is our part to depend on him and to seek him when he calls us.

our soul will often prevent us from having the peace that God desires to give to us for free:

John 10:17-18
Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my soul, that I might take it again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command received I of my Father.

John 15:9-14
As the Father loved me, I also loved you: remain in my love. If ye keep my commands, ye shall remain in my love; as I have kept my Father's commands, and remain in his love. These things have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and your joy might be completed. This is my command, That ye love one another, as I loved you. Greater love than this has none, that any lay down his soul for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatever I command you.

God commands love.

Matt 22:37-40 (SLT)
And Jesus said to him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the first and the great command. And the second like it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. In these two commands hang the whole law and the prophets.

Matt 7:12 (SLT)
Therefore all whatever ye would that men should do to you, so also do ye to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

our soul is damaged and it is only by giving it completely to God that we will have love and freedom in Christ and at first it seems a terrible burden but the true burden is being separated from love, when we lay down our soul to God we become free, we no longer have to work to understand God because we have given our self to God and God teaches us and he manifest himself to us. everything is a burden that is not with God, no matter how right or good it seems. we all need an experience of the love of God and God will show himself to us if we seek him and over time as we grow spiritually things become easier and clearer.

Luke 9:23-25 (slt)
And he said to all, If any one wish to come after me, let him deny himself, and lift up his cross daily and let him follow me. For whoever would wish to save his soul shall lose it: and whoever should lose his soul for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man profited, having gained the whole world, and having lost himself, or having been damaged?

it is not so much that we ought to desire to save ourselves from sin but rather that we desire and be with God. if only we knew God we would never want to leave. there is a lot we can sacrifice to God that our soul clings to, if only we knew all things are as dung compared to him. sometimes the very things our soul clings to are bad perceptions about others, our self and God and if we do not let go of them and let God free us from them but instead trust in our self then we are in hell already. why? we could rather be in heaven. if only we knew just how painful it is to not be with him, but we are often so numb in this world, may God save us.

Jesus is the Bread of Life and the Bible says that those who are weary can come to him for rest. Jesus never does condemn the sinner. He says that He has come not to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance. When the prostitute who was to be stoned came to Him, He did not condemn her, saying "Neither do I condemn you.". When the sinner woman with the alabaster jar came to annoint Him with oil, He openly accepted her love.

I think that the problem comes when we try to justify ourselves before God by saying that we can handle all the sin ourselves. When we take a step back and say that we accept Jesus' sacrifice for our sins, that we are a new creation in Christ, then that is when the problem ends...

Jeshu said:

When I was stuck with sin, Jesus told me to thank Him for forgiveness rather than wallow in guilt and shame and let that 'Dragon' in my guilty conscience roast me all the time. (Rev 12)

A real battle to thank Jesus for forgiveness and not to fall for guilt and shame!

However I found that love and thankfulness grows in our heart towards Jesus and begins to challenge and break down the sin that was present there.

This is a process that takes some time, the stronger the sin, the more love and thankfulness towards Jesus needs to spring to life. For the more love and thankfulness dwells in our heart towards Jesus the less power sin has over us.

So try it, let thankful love grow stronger than your sin.

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This, this and this.

It's a process, and it takes time and patience. Stay anchored in prayer and studying the Gospel daily.

Okano said:

I am struggling to turn away from sin. It's so very hard for me. I wish it were easier. I hope someone has some practical advice on truly repenting.

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We all struggle. But we are the lucky ones.

We have a God who loves us so much, who listens to our prayers, who knows us personally and who sent the Holy Spirit to us as our comforter.

Tell him your struggles, like you would tell your best friend.

Ask Him to give you strength each day.

Ask Him to help you understand how you can deal with your sin more effectively. He wants the best for you.

Ask Him to show you through reading His Word, the wisdom that is contained within each page.

Know that He will send you comfort. It will be in God's time, which is not always our time.

Know that He will never leave you. He is the ONLY one who will never fail you.

Every one of us sins and falls short and we hurt people along the way. Forgive others who have hurt you and repent, seek forgiveness from others you have hurt and get back up again when you fall.

Walk with your chin up and be on your way. Doing the hard work of the Lord as you go. Show love always..

I am glad you posted this!
I will be praying for you.
it I think it is absolutely awesome for a Christian to admit that he is struggling with sin!
The Bible tells us to do this but not many Christians do it!!
"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." James 5:16
-and I think that is ridiculous.The fact that you are struggling with sin and seeking to overcome it and that it bothers you, confirms that you have a sensitive heart towards God and that means you are a good Christian!
I was praying to God yesterday about the same thing I am struggling with and he led me to this Bible Study-here's a few excerpts that helped me like you wouldn't believe:
"THE ROLE OF SUFFERING IN SANCTIFICATION"
"Christians (including committed Christian workers) are not exempt from the sufferings that come from living in a fallen world.
Examples: Sickness &/or crippling accidents; financial stress from mechanical failures, job loss, etc.; death of loved ones; children rebelling; impact of others' wrong choices (Divorce; crime), Genetic problems whether physical or mental.
As we follow Christ, we will experience an ongoing process of sufferings which are called "the dying of Jesus" and which result in "manifesting the life of Jesus."
Examples:
Afflicted: nagging negative circumstances.
Loss of comfort to serve others: night's sleep; hospitality cost; material sacrifice.
Perplexed: "without a way;" confusion about next step; doubt--not just about your own life, but also about others.
Confusion can be a normal part of the Christian life; God does not make every step of the way clear if you are walking with him. Direction for your own life turned upside down; not clear what God is doing in your life; anguish over others who you care for.
"We benefit from contact with those who are really persecuted like many Christians in other countries are. This helps maintain the proper perspective on our sufferings."
Struck Down (kataballo): to be cast down:
Sudden, unexpected failures; cherished plans or relationships lost; ministry failure; betrayal of fellow-workers; deeper revelation of sinful nature.
Proper Response to Suffering as a Christian:
1. Don't be surprised.
(1 Pet. 4:12) Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you."
Older Christians also need to be reminded when things get harder than they thought.
(Heb. 12:5) " . . . and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, `MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM."
It is also a privilege to suffer for the cause of Christ (Phil. 1:29; Acts 5:41)! There is cause greater than our own personal comfort: The cause of Christ.
"We don't see the willingness to suffer for anything amongst most western people. American hedonism/narcissism--'No cause is greater than my own comfort."
There is no authenticity/depth without this!! Are you willing to die so others can live, and so you can have deeper satisfaction of fruitfulness??"
We will ALWAYS struggle with sin while we are in these falling bodies. -do not let Satan pull you down into the guilt and shame cycle because that's how he gets you.
Accept God's grace and keep getting up and trying again!
Virtually ALL of the testimonies I have heard of people who overcame strongholds in their lives, -did those two things: God's grace, and just keep trying!
I will pray for you-will you pray for me too-thank you. -credwi88

Repenting means having a change of mind and it is bought about by the Holy Spirit. It is not promising that we will never sin again. If Christian believers sin then Jesus is interceding on their behalf. Talk to Jesus about the problem, and admit it. He will forgive us our sin in the sense of restoring our closeness to him (if he is our Saviour then the sins we were going to commit were already paid for on the cross) and he will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Realise that sin dishonours Jesus. But the truth is that we can thank Jesus that he died for us, paying the price for all our sin that we could never pay and can never repay by all the good things we could ever do.
God is greater than our troubled hearts and he knows everything.

I'm praying for you.

Okano said:

I am struggling to turn away from sin. It's so very hard for me. I wish it were easier. I hope someone has some practical advice on truly repenting.

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Yes I do, dont fool yourself into thinking that you need god to turn away from sin.

You've had some really good replies so far...I just wanted to add:

Everybody struggles with sin. It's the result of living in a fallen world. If there is one particular area that you are finding very difficult to overcome, it helps to know if there is something that triggers the sin. If you can identify that, you can try to avoid it if that's possible.

Most importantly though, I wanted to share a quote with you:

If God’s love is unconditional, then his forgiveness must be unconditional too. And it is! His forgiveness is not doled out in proportion to our acts of repentance or confession. It is lavished upon us according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7). You only need to look at Jesus to know this is true. During his time on earth, Jesus went around forgiving people who neither confessed nor repented, and while he hung on the cross he forgave those who put him there. The Son of God did all this to give us a picture of what true forgiveness looks like; it looks like love.


You need to treat God’s forgiveness the same way you treat his love—as a gift received by faith from start to finish. You don’t need to beat yourself up to get it; you just need to look to the cross and say, “Thank you, Jesus.”



- Paul Ellis (from The Gospel in Ten Words)

repentance is telling Jesus in prayer what you have done wrong, asking his forgiveness for it, and then trying to not do it anymore.

Hi I've been there. Jesus actually gives repentance. What helped me was reading through each gospel account of His death and reserection. Read through those carefully. Pay close attention to what He went through. Read psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. Those two chapters reveal more of his suffering or us. When we come to Christ we come as empty sinners. We don't bring our repentance or faith to be saved but we come to Him for repentance and faith. Remember salvation and all it involves comes from Christ alone. Think about Him bleeding and happily sacrificing Himself for you. Read Romans 5:6,8,10. He didn't die for repentant or believeing people but for unbelieving rebellios sinners. Christ is the source of everything. I pray that helps and God Bless.

Btw you couldn't even want to repent without Him drawing you, John 6:37,44,65. Be of good courage and believe that grace is ordained for you.

I say those things because in this day and age like times past we want to focus on what we do. That's not right. We look and keep looking at Him and what He has done the rest of our lives. If you keep looking at Him you will realize how can I sin against the one who suffered so much for me. God wants us serving out of love for Him and not fear. How does that happen? By looking at our own repentance or faith? No. By looking to The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world The one who died for His enemies.