(Matthew 15:19, James 1:15)
When is sin, sin? One of the common questions I get daily, is when does sin
become sin. In the sexual area, people often ask if as long as there is no
intercourse, is it still sin? Let me use this analogy to clarify this issue
for you. Just like life begins at conception, sin becomes sin at
conception. The Bible tells us that sin actually starts in our heart. From
the heart it progresses to our head. Lastly, it is manifested in our
actions. We don't just fornicate. The lust starts in our heart, then
travels to our brain where it is nurtured, and then is actually committed
with our bodies. That is why Jesus said that if you lust in your heart, you
have already committed the act. You see my friend, you can't play games
with sin. You can't try to straddle the fence between committing sin and
not committing sin, it just doesn't work that way. Sin is not something to
see how close you can get to, but it is something to stay as far away from
as possible.
The best way to stay away from sin is by working on the path sin takes. As
the Bible tells us, it starts in our heart. David prayed, "create in me a
clean heart Lord". That should be our prayer as well. We need God to make
our heart clean and pure, since that is the place sin is born. The good
news is that God is in the heart-changing business. He will help you to
clean up your heart and make it a heart tender towards the things of God.
Sin then goes into our mind where it grows. We have talked before about
Romans 12:1 and the renewing of our minds. How important it is to watch
what we put into our minds each day, and cleaning out some of the old junk
that is already there from our past. We do that by being in the Word of God
daily, using it as a spiritual cleansing agent. Purifying our heart and
cleansing our mind is a process. It doesn't happen overnight. It happens
each day as we pray and read the Bible. It happens as we are in church feeding
our Spirits, serving God. When our focus is on the Lord, on the things of
God, on His Word....it guards our heart from the evils of this world and it
keeps our mind clean of sin.
Let's talk plain for a minute. I have told you about the high cost of sin,
how we end up paying and paying and paying for the sins we have committed.
That is why the Lord has tried to show us a better way to live. He loves
us. He doesn't want to see us suffer and go through so much pain. This
life was never intended to be a time of pain, hurting, and failure. It was
to be a season of joy, peace, and victory as we served and glorified our
God. As you turn away from sin, clean it out of your heart and mind, you
find the abundance that the Lord promised us in this life. It is time to
quit playing games with God. Quit trying to "be good and not sin" because
if you are at that level, you have already lost. Long before you try to
control your physical actions, you have already sinned. The goal is to root
it out of your heart and mind. Then, your flesh has nothing directing it on
a sinful course.
You can count on my prayers. I love you and care about you. Don't be
discouraged by these words today, but be challenged. Many of you have been
fighting a losing battle of beating sin by keeping your actions under
control. We both know that never happens. Hopefully, you will understand
now that it never can happen because the sin has already taken place, and
the flesh is simply responding to the sin in your heart and mind. ***THIS
THEN BECOMES THE KEY. ROOTING SIN OUT OF YOUR HEART AND MIND.*** Once you
understand this fact, then and only then will you be able to start getting
victory over the sin in your life. Again, I will be praying for you. God
will strengthen you and help you. Remember, Jesus Christ died on a cross
2000 years ago to give you victory. Start living in that victory today!
