How Can You Overcome Your Struggle with Sin?

Published on 04/28/24 by Dr-Shirley-Cheng.

Do you struggle with sin? Does sin sometimes get the upper hand? If so, you are not alone. In fact, if we say that we have no sin, "we deceive ourselves." (1 John 1:8, WEB)

Every person struggles with sin, including Christians. This is due to our sin nature, our tendency to sin. When we know what we ought to do, we often do the thing we ought not to. The apostle Paul wrote about this very dilemma:

"I do not understand the things I do. I do not do what I want to do, and I do the things I hate. And if I do not want to do the hated things I do, that means I agree that the law [of God] is good. But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them. Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me-I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them. I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do. So if I do things I do not want to do, then I am not the one doing them. It is sin living in me that does those things.

"So I have learned this rule: When I want to do good, evil is there with me. In my mind, I am happy with God's law. But I see another law working in my body, which makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and it makes me its prisoner." (Romans 7:15-23, NCV)

Does this describe your struggle with sin? I know it sure describes mine! I echo Paul's question: "Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24, WEB)

The answer is: Yahweh God through Jesus Christ!

Even though we will still face challenges with sin, we will definitely get the upper hand and eventually win the battle when we actively trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation. Once we put genuine faith in him, Yahweh will send His Holy Spirit to indwell us so its powers will help us fight off sin. With the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we no longer have to struggle with sin alone. Rather, it becomes teamwork: God giving us the power and we cooperating with that power to overcome sin and not commit the same sin again.

But exactly, how do we cooperate with God to fight off sin? In order to work together with Yahweh, we must:

1) study the Holy Scriptures to learn what are actually sins. We cannot avoid something, like sin, if we do not know what it is in the first place, agree? As an example, we should avoid the poisonous black widow spider, but how can we avoid it if we don't know what it looks like? We can't simply avoid every spider we come across! Likewise, to avoid things that are truly sins, we need to know how to identify them, and the only way to know how is by studying the Bible, as Yahweh specifically laid out actual sins in it for us to shun, and provided us with principles that help us determine something as sinful (such as gambling) even if it's not listed as a sin.

2) Apply the guidance of the Holy Scriptures to our lives. If after we learn what a black widow spider looks like but we fail to avoid it and consequently get bitten, then what good did our knowledge do us? Knowledge is rendered useless without application of it. For this reason, once we learn what sins are from the Bible, we will have to follow the Bible's principles and guidance to live a lifestyle that's pleasing to God, and such a lifestyle is as free of sin as possible. Otherwise, "if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does." (James 1:23-25)

3) Yield to the Holy Spirit. By our own efforts, we cannot fight off sin. It's only when we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in the right direction and help us remain on that right path will we be able to overcome sin and remain victorious. But how do we know whether we are being led by the Holy Spirit? We know if the lead is from the Spirit if what we are led to do is accordance with the Bible. Nothing that the Spirit leads us to do will ever contradict God's Word. Yahweh does not contradict Himself. So if you are ever being led astray from His principles, then know that you are definitely not being led by the Spirit. This is why we must read the Bible in the first place to know what Yahweh's principles are.

4) Confess our sins and repent whenever we've sinned. Prior to the return of Jesus Christ, we will always struggle with sin, and will sometimes fail in our battle when we do not perfectly follow God's guidance. However, as soon as we have sinned, we must confess them to Yahweh through prayers, ask Him for His forgiveness, and repent of our sins. Sincere repentance involves a) acknowledging that what you did is sinful, b) hating your sin, c) and avoiding committing the same sin again. When we confess our sins, God "is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) But if we refuse to confess and continue to sin without repentance, then there's "a certain fearful expectation of judgment." (Hebrews 10:27)

I know following these four steps is something that's easier said than done. I know it takes time and effort. I know that we will succumb to sin from time to time. But I also know that if we remain faithful to Jesus, we will win the battle over sin in the end, for victory is ensured, as victory will be Yahweh's and Jesus'. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has already defeated sin and Satan the instigator of sin on Earth. The current situation is akin to a victorious battle where there is a few pockets of resistance from the foes. But after Jesus returns, sets up God's Kingdom over Earth, and reigns for 1,000 years, any final resistance will be squashed, forever. That's when sin will never poke out its ugly head ever again. And as winners, we will shout, "Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God" because it's Yahweh who has won the final battle for us! (Revelation 19:1)