There are sinful patterns that can dominate people's lives. Illicit sex and porn are a couple of examples. These things are actually just the fruit of a deeper problem however, which is more serious. The underlying problem is a failure to walk closely with the Lord by faith, guided with His Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. People who live a flesh-dominated life are doing it because they haven't totally submitted their lives to God and made Him their first priority. Christians are like anyone else in regard to the way that we can all too easily try to find happiness and fulfillment apart from God's direction, using strategies of our own to make life work.

The psalmist who wrote Psalm 119 had real confidence in his victory, mainly because he was unwaveringly seeking a close walk with the Lord when he wrote; “So I will keep Your Law continually, Forever and ever.” He then wrote, “And I will walk at liberty For I seek Your precepts” (Ps. 119:44-45). Being able to obey God's truth and walk with Him in victory requires us to seek His face, to learn about Him and grow in our knowledge of Him by reading and meditating in His Word. I think it would be difficult to significantly grow or change without doing that. His Word is one of the means that the Holy Spirit uses to equip us for good works, fellowship and obedience to Him.

No doubt, Paul knew this Psalm, and his teaching to the church in Rome, chapters 6 through 8 are something all of us need to read and meditate on often, but it's of critical importance for those people who need to face the ungodly habits that dominate their lives.

It's crucial that as believers we should all understand that what is behind the proverb, "As he (a man) thinks in his heart, so is he:" What we do is a result of what we are on the inside. In Matthew 7:18, Jesus said, "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit." In the Christian's life, change occurs internally and it usually occurs slowly.

Our growth and change are a personal process. People in our society are looking for quick fixes, and we want them yesterday, but The Word of God says, "but grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18) and it also says in 1 Peter 2:2, "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby."

Jesus delivered us from the just and due punishment for our sins through His death on the Cross, and with respect to that salvation we need to grow so that in Him we can have deliverance day by day from the power of temptation and sin. Peter was speaking to the "already saved," but who needed to experience the transformed life that spiritual growth brings. We all need to have that, and for the person who is laboring under the weight of a spiritually stagnating and life dominating habit these verses should be a lifeline that is readily grasped.

All believers need to confess their sins to God and repent and ask for His forgiveness and move on in thankfulness, but believers who are entrenched in habitual sin are preventing themselves from being the man or woman of God that they could be. What is needed is the same thing we all need. It is a deeply meant repentance with frank but respectful confession to God that doesn't simply acknowledge our sinful ways to Him, but that gets down to what's necessary for growth in our relationship with Him and our knowledge of Him. Believers with life dominating sin habits need to recognize before God that they are seriously neglecting His grace and the fact that He suffered and died on the Cross to save them from precisely what they are doing. He made provision for us to walk intimately with Him and to be able to overcome sin.

I'm not saying that we'll be able to get through this life without sinning. But we should be able to get through this life without habitually sinning on purpose. Sexual sins and the concealment of them are very serious and have deep down, far reaching consequences for oneself and for others. These types of sin are only symptoms of a sin that goes even deeper. It is the sin of trying to run one's own life, and believers should know better. It's as old as the Garden of Eden. The consequence of ignoring God's authority in one's life is devastating, and that is true of a believer whether one has been regularly attending church and doing good works or not.

Even though Saul did things which had the appearance of being very religious, he had disobeyed God. He was trying to run his life on his own terms. Saul's life didn't work out so well. Esau felt really remorseful about the things that he lost, but what really happened there? He had a birthright that included certain spiritual privileges (and responsibilities), but he neglected it. He gave it over for what? A bowl of lentil soup and some bread. He was sorry, but we have no knowledge that his spiritual priorities ever changed after that.

Jesus said, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33. Seek Him first. That's how it works. It's like a little girl who wants to dance with her daddy. She places her feet on top of her daddy's feet and takes his hands. That's how it's supposed to be with us and our Heavenly Father. We put our feet on His and He moves and we're just along for the dance. If we do that our walk is good. If we don't, if we try to take the steps for ourselves, it will all fall apart.

Without a close fellowship with God as the foundation for everything we are and everything we do, nothing in this life will satisfy, and we become bogged down in an attempt to be the one who directs our lives. We have true freedom as believers, but that doesn't mean that we have the freedom to do whatever we want. It means that we have the freedom in God's power to do what we should do. The Apostle Peter said, "promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved." (2 Peter 2:19)

Don't be an enslaved believer. Submit this sin to God and get close to Him and remember; "Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." (1 John 5:5) and, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Peace in His name,
David