Stopping the act of sin is not repentance, and it does not break the stronghold it has on you. I have heard the definition of repentance as turning around. Turning away from a sin is part of repentance, but it is the result of repenting not the substance of it. Repentance is an act of the heart.
As testimony to God’s working in my life, I want to tell you about a sin that possessed me. I have had a problem with the sin of Pornography all my life. My dad had Playboys and other pornographic magazines around the house. I remember both of my parents watching a porn movie at a neighbor's house. Mom didn’t seem to have a problem with it. I just didn’t think there was that much wrong with it. Everyone did it.
God could have helped me get rid of the sin by punishing me or forcing me somehow to stop looking at the pictures. If he had, I would have turned away from the sin, but my heart would still be in the same state as before. I would still have the desire within me even though outside everything seemed fine.
I became a Christian, and God started working with me. I kept thinking that I had to stop. I tried to stop. I was not very successful really, but I did better. I was determined to stop, and I did my best to force myself to turn away from pornography. It was deep rooted stronghold that gripped me.
What is so wonderful about God is that He never gives up on me and has promised to work in my life and make me the man I was designed to be. Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
I want to tell something I feel strongly about. I am not a sinner. Do I sin? Yes, but my identity is as a Child of God. I guess you could say I am a Saint who sins, but not a sinner who is a Saint. God looks at me as what I will be. My state may be in this sinful world in a fleshly body, but my standing is in Heaven at the right hand of Jesus.
God has taken that stronghold which had me in its grip and changed my heart. He did not whip me across the back to force me to stop looking at pornography. He helped me to realize the pain, suffering and heart ache my sin was bringing to those who were in the pictures, who took the pictures, and my friends and family whom I knew and loved. I saw clearer God’s heart on the matter. That has changed me more than any punishment could have. I didn’t stop because of fear, but on the account of the love God placed in my heart, I am almost totally free.
I am not totally free? I have to keep my guard up against the sin. I am free of the stronghold, but if I want to I can give into temptations which come along. There are temptations at times still, but it does not have the power it used to. Jesus locked up those temptations in a cage and gave me the key. I have a choice. I can unlock the power of temptations into my life again, or I can love those around me and God by following His commands.
In today’s world, it can be hard to follow Christ. It is not easy to cast of strongholds of sin when the world says it is normal. To attempt stopping a sin is a road to almost sure failure. Instead let God change your heart and your entire being will follow.
Photo Credit: Man in chains looks up to the light by emersonquinn
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