Practical Strategies to Resist Sin

How to win the daily battle against Satan.

It’s a Fight

Christian life is a daily fight. Following Christ means we are setting clear standards for ourselves, and those standards are very difficult to live up to. I’m convinced the reason why so many call themselves atheists is because they are too afraid of the truth, knowing that if there is a God, they will be held accountable when judgement day comes. Convincing themselves that there is no God means that they are free to do whatever they want without any repercussions. For us, it’s different. We have clear, very demanding, moral guidelines. There’s no hiding behind blurred lines. The lines are clear as day, which means that when we cross one of those lines and engage in sin, betray God, and fail to meet the moral standard, we are forced to recognize it, take a deep look at ourselves and ask for forgiveness.

This naturally means we are constantly at odds with our lesser nature, since, being human, we are too often weak and sinful, and we let the enemy lead us astray from the path to salvation.

For atheists there’s no sin, no moral standard, no God and no devil, so they will not know the guilt that comes when we fail and betray God through engaging in sins and vices. But this guilt is necessary. It’s a sign that you’re straying from the path, and need to get back on it. Feeling some guilt when acting poorly is the necessary pain that will discourage you from doing it again.

Trying to pursue sanctity, trying to follow Jesus Christ in all that we do is hard. It demands from us a higher standard and forces us to go against many of our natural human desires. Throughout this journey, you’ll be tempted by the enemy constantly, and, human as we are, we’ll fall prey to such temptations from time to time.

But there are ways in which you can find the strength necessary to reject the enemy, and they come after you realize and fully accept the fact that Christian life is not a walk in a meadow, but a bloody fight in a ring. Only then will you see the enemy’s attacks for what they are and only then will you realize you need toughness of body, mind, and spirit to defeat his schemes.

Sin Is a Disease

One costly mistake I’ve made, and seen many of us make, is that we fail to understand sin like the contagious disease that it is.

The most common example of this is how so many men pursue casual sex and sexual immorality in their early adulthood, and then justify it by claiming they need to “get it out of their system” before they can commit to someone monogamously and keep their lust under control.

What these men fail to realize —and I’m no exception to this, having gone through such an experience myself— is that you don’t get sin out of your system, but actually get it into your system when you engage in it.

Sin is portrayed as a force, sometimes even as a demonic creature, that Adam’s transgression released into the world. Sin is less a judgment cast upon an action than a poison or a deadly disease. Individual evil actions are symptoms of this disease that reveal its presence and the degree of its progression toward death. Sin can pass from one person to another. Sin can intensify within a population and become a defining aspect of a community. Like a virus or bacteria in our modern understanding, sin leaves its mark and contagion in the world. This stain left by sin poisons not only humans but animals, plants, and even the inanimate objects of God’s created order. Thus the Torah prescribes actions that are aimed at containing and eliminating the disease of sin. Purification was a battle with life-and-death stakes.
— God is a Man of War: The Problem of Violence in the Old Testament, 41-42

To resist sin, you must first see it for what it is: a contagious disease, a virus that will consume you if you come close to it. When you view it like that, it’s easy to understand why you cannot expect to come close to sin and rely on your willpower to keep you from engaging in it. You won’t be able to hold it off just like you won’t be able to hold off any other virus or disease when you’re close to them. In that sense, the best thing you can do is remove yourself completely from situations, people, places, and other influences that will draw you nearer to sin. There’s no other way. You cannot rely on your own strength, and refusing to engage completely will always be the surest way to avoid the virus of sin.

Expel It From Your Life

One of the most difficult, and yet most necessary things you have to do when you begin to walk with Christ is to remove from your life all those things that contaminate you.

You have to take a deep look at all the influences around you and decide which ones get you closer to God and which ones separate you from Him. Like we saw earlier, sin is not something you can bargain with or engage in controllably. It’s a virus, and like all viruses, you cannot let it remain in your life and expect to keep it under control. It will wreak havoc on your soul, weaken your will, and manipulate you.

To live in God’s freedom, we must avoid the things of destruction. Christianity demands you don’t remain immersed in impurity, blasphemy, lies and greed. The evil elements of our culture will contaminate you if you do not voluntarily separate from them and build a spiritual armor strong enough to withstand their influence.

Your Weapons in This War

You can build a strong armor against such influences through prayer, fasting, studying the scriptures, and a well-ordered life. Daily prayer, asceticism, discipline, and the outright rejection of all the things that contaminate you are essential elements to help you gain freedom in God.

Prayer opens a direct communication channel with God. Fasting increases your physical hunger but also your spiritual hunger, and it reminds you of your flawed human nature, forcing you to be humble and thankful for God’s grace. Asceticism removes from your life all the things that keep you enslaved and makes it so that you can focus on the things that truly matter. And rejection of the virus of sin ensures you walk the narrow, straight path and don’t fall prey to temptations.

Get Angry

One final tactic I’ve been using lately, and this goes back to the beginning of this article, is to see the enemy as an actual enemy. Try to view your daily struggles as a fight against a distinct enemy, Satan. When you feel him working his schemes in you, tempting you, leading you astray, get angry. React how you would when faced with a cheating opponent in a boxing ring. Use this anger to find within you the strength to defeat him.

Face him and show him he cannot defeat you. And when your own strength is failing, rebuke him in the name of Jesus Christ. Speak it out loud. Use His Holy Name to find strength when your own fails you.

Yes, it’s a daily battle. Yes, defeating sin is hard. But you have on your side the most powerful being ever, and He wants you to win.

Let Him help you through it and help Him too, by avoiding all those situations where sin will be easy to come by.

What are other tactics/frameworks/mindset shifts that help you win the daily battle against sin? Drop a comment and let’s build a long list of strategies to help each other out in the battle that is Christian life.

An Exciting Announcement

My book, Christian Vitality, launches this Saturday!

I’m incredibly excited about this launch. This is a book that is extremely needed for Christian men all over the world. If we are to bring more men over to Christ, we have to show them that our religion is not wimpish and soft, but masculine, strong, aspirational, and that it drives men to be the best version of themselves. We have a massive responsibility to become admirable men so we can spread the message of Christ far and wide.

Christian Vitality is your roadmap to that purpose.

Keep an eye out on your email and my Instagram account so you can get a copy when it launches!

God bless you,

Simple Man