Sin has been with mankind since the start of humanity. As we all know, the first-ever human sin (The devil sinned before us all and fell from grace) took place in Genesis, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God after He created them and told them they could eat anything they desired in the Garden of Eden, except the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Instead of listening to God, they delighted in the fruit of the tree of knowledge as the serpent tempted them too, in which doing so cast sin on their descendants to come. While this was thousands of years ago, at the literal start of humanity, this story of temptation still is present today.
There is still so much of this “fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil” we are still delighting in today, we are still dealing with disobeying God. There are numerous things, that we are disobeying God in that is like this ‘’fruit’’. While yes, God is not telling us to exactly not eat from a certain plant, what if we all had our kind of “fruit”. This “fruit” of ours could be any sin we struggle with defeating: self-righteousness, idolatry, sexual impurity, greed, gluttony, it really could be anything. We are like Adam and Eve, we are so tempted to give in to our “fruit”. Temptation is powerful. The temptation may feel like an urge to do something, but that does not make it right. Just because something is normalized, doesn’t make it right (Ex: Cancel Culture, “Red Flags”, Gossip, Degrading, Revenge, Unforgiveness, etc.). Sin has become so normalized and oftentimes, if you are not doing a certain sin, you are looked at as the one that is in the wrong. We are often faced with a choice are we going to repent our sins and choose Jesus or are we going to give in to our temptations? We have a choice, and it is a choice we all have to make.
Repentance is something that we need to normalize. Repentance is to recognize our sins, turn away from them, and turn to Jesus. When we repent, our relationship with Christ grows, He purifies us and cleanses us, so we can become more like Him as The Word says to imitate Him (1 Corinthians 1:11). It is essential to lay our sins down to God because when we lay ourselves down, we gain Him and His holiness, which is what we are called to after all. Jesus preaches in the Gospel to take up our cross as He says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”- Luke 9:23-26 (NIV). Giving into sin is something we can do easily. I have some great tips to help you repent your sins, that have personally worked for me:
Surround yourself with Christ-centered friendships- Surround yourself with people who want to honor God as you do and have the same hunger for Christ's Holiness
READ THE WORD- Spending time with God by reading His word helps us be fueled by His goodness. When we read the Word, we are being taught by the Mighty One, and He starts to change our view on things. Also do not just read the word, MEDITATE AND ABSORB IT.
Have the time of self-reflection- I think this is such an important one. We need to have a time where we take a look at our lives, look and see what is helping us grow closer to God and what is not. To turn away from our sins, we need to know what sin is leading us away from God.
PRAY- Prayer changes everything. Pray for God to walk with you and to help you see your sins. Pray to God that you may strive for holiness and to be more like Him. Pray to Him that you may pick Him overall.
Learning to fight some of our sins takes time and discipline. That is why it is a relationship with Christ because it is grown over time. So, I invite you today to take time and see what you need to repent. See what “fruit” in your life is pushing you away from God. Next time you have temptation, ask yourself this “Do I want Jesus or the fruit?”
I pray for anyone reading this that you may see what in your life is pushing you away from God and that you would have the strength to repent from it. Father, I thank you for whoever is reading this that they are a gift from You, my Lord, I thank you God for your goodness and your mercy on us! Father, I pray for whoever if they are reading this that they know no matter what they’ve done, You forgive us and love us just as much as before.
In Jesus's gracious name,
Amen
Blessings everyone!
Barrett
Also, we are now have entered the time of lent, and while yes I know, only certain denominations technically observe it, and my denomination, Assemblies of God, technically do not observe lent, I strongly believe it is something all Christians should take part in to honor the pain Jesus Christ went through on the cross, by giving up something to grow closer to Him. And with lent comes temptation, the temptation to give up and give in to our wants and desires. So, I am praying for us all through this time that we may be strong in our faith through lent and forever.
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