Practical Strategies to Resist Sin
How to win the daily fight against temptation.
Christian life is a daily battle. Following Christ means setting clear standards of behavior for ourselves, standards which are very difficult to live up to.
I’m convinced that one of the main reasons why so many call themselves atheists is because deep down, they are afraid of the truth, knowing that if God exists, they will be held accountable for their actions when judgement day comes. It’s easier to ignore the evidence and convince themselves that there is no God, as this gives them the freedom to do whatever they want without any guilt or moral repercussions.
For us, it’s different. We have clear, and very demanding, moral guidelines. There’s no hiding behind blurred lines. The lines of right and wrong are clear as day, and 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 lower nature, since, being human, we are too often weak and stubborn, 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 we feel when we fail and betray God by engaging in sins and vices.
But a prudent measure of guilt is necessary, helpful, and just. 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 a necessary pain that will discourage you from doing it again.
Picking up our crosses and trying to follow Jesus Christ in all that we do is hard. It demands everything from us and forces us to fight against many of our natural human desires. Throughout this journey, we’ll be tempted by the enemy constantly, and, human as we are, we’ll sometimes fall prey to such temptations.
There are ways, however, in which you can develop the strength necessary to reject the enemy, but you’ll only do so after realizing and fully accepting 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 clearly and only then will you realize just how much fortitude you need to resist his schemes.
Sin Is a Disease
One costly mistake I’ve made —and seen many others make— is failing 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, like an addiction, 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.
— Fr. Stephen de Young in 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 flirt with sin and rely on your willpower to keep you from engaging in it. If you play stupid games, you’ll win stupid prizes.
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 even come close to it 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 “just a bit”. It’s a virus, and like all viruses, you cannot let it be a part of your life and expect to keep it under control. It will wreak havoc on your soul, weaken your will, and manipulate you, until your intellect is so clouded that you can’t even recognize what’s right and wrong.
To live in God’s freedom, we must avoid the instruments of destruction. Christianity demands that 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 Scripture, and by living a well-ordered, virtuous life.
Daily prayer, asceticism, discipline, and the courageous rejection of all the things that contaminate you are essential elements to help you resist temptation.
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 allows you to focus on the things that truly matter.
And rejection of the virus of sin ensures that you build an environment that helps you walk the narrow, straight path.
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 sense 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. Not because of your own strength, but because God’s grace is mightier than his power, and through Him, anything becomes possible.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
— Philippians 4:13
And when your own strength is failing, rebuke the devil 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 almighty God, who loves you, who remains in you, and who wants nothing more than for you to join Him in eternity.
Let Him help you through it, but help Him too, by avoiding all those situations and influences where you know sin will be easy to come by.
Keep walking the narrow path and may God grant you the strength and courage to remain steadfast in the fight against temptation.
In Christ,
Juan — Simple Man
What are other tactics/frameworks/mindset shifts that help you in 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.
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Another strategy, as written in the Lord's Prayer "Lead me not into temptation ..."
Avoid the near occasion of sin. Don't test your resolve and discipline. Maintain your reserves until you need them unavoidably.
Really succinct and precisely what I have seen in my walk with God — being a good Christian is about seeing the difference of the long run between what gives energy (God) & what drains energy (devil). Before this I was lukewarm. Building a community of women doing the same! 🙌🏻