October 25th
“You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” Romans 8:11 NKJV
The power source for becoming the person that created us to be is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives life to our spirits and bodies, enabling us to life in righteousness as God intended.
Sin struggles like sexual addictions really put the truth of this scripture to the test. We hear from many Christians who have repeatedly failed to break free of addiction. Claiming they’ve tried everything to get free, some conclude that God’s Word isn’t true and give up.
I believe that the people in such situations may be trying to break the addiction in their own strength, without ever fully connecting to the Holy Spirit. The disconnect with the Spirit can be due to half-hearted repentance and/or a lack of faith in God’s word. Our feelings can complicate things, especially when we may not feel God working in us or see any evidence of change.
Approaching God in true repentance means that we’re turning away from our sin and taking steps to ensure we don’t do it again. We can pray a wonderful prayer of confession to the Lord, but if we don’t do anything different from before we can’t expect things to change. God will not do the work for us – he expects us to take actions in partnership with the Holy Spirit. For example, if we’re confessing an internet porn addiction, what actions do we take to close off the sources? Possible solutions might include installing a filter, a pop-up blocker or even removing internet access. While these won’t break the addiction, they will greatly help us walk in purity as we deal with the root causes behind the addiction.
The faith for freedom is inspired in us by God when we latch on to his word. Paul explained that faith stems from the word of God (Romans 10:17). When we hear it, study it and internalize it, faith rises up in us. For example, consider Jesus’ words: “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26 NASB). We can apply that scripture to whatever difficult situation we may be facing. God is the God of the impossible. He specializes in working in impossible situations. Though a sin struggle like sex addiction may seem unbreakable in the natural, it can be broken with God’s help.
A daily quiet time with God will help us connect with the Holy Spirit and get into God’s word. During such times, God can teach us through the Bible, strengthen our spirits through prayer and worship, and guide us on the road of recovery. This special time with the Lord each day will best position us to walk in the freedom and the power of the Holy Spirit. People who don’t have that daily “perspective-adjustment” will likely find transformation and freedom elusive.
Questions for further thought:
How does the Holy Spirit guide us in living? (John 16:8,13-14; John 14:26)
What does the Holy Spirit’s new life in our mortal bodies enable us to do? (Ephesians 4:22-24)
Other than studying the Bible in a quiet time, what are some other possible sources of God’s word that you can tap into?
Prayer:
“Father in heaven, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who lives in me. I agree with your word and welcome the Holy Spirit’s leadership and guidance in my daily life. I confess any half-hearted repentance or lack of faith I’ve had previously. Please help me overcome any unbelief in my heart. I embrace your word and plan for my life. Please help me to connect with you anew and take action to secure my repentance and walk in freedom. Thank you, Lord! I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.”