Why does it seem like you can never do the things you know you should? Learn how to overcome sins of every type, small and large.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
As growing Christian disciples, we struggle every day to do the things we know we should do—whether that is to pray, to resist a blatant sin, or be nice on social media.
Some of us struggle with hard core addictions and sins, and some of us struggle with unforgiveness or negative and critical thoughts. Some of us struggle with obeying God’s last instruction.
If we are honest, we all struggle with trusting God in some area of our heart, and we all continually fall short of God’s best for our lives.
You are not alone. The Apostle Paul, himself, said the things he wanted to do, he couldn’t seem to do sometimes.
He ended up doing the very thing he hated and really didn’t want to do (Rom 7).
Even when we are born again, we continue to struggle with areas of unbelief and sin in our hearts.
We miss God’s best many times.
What has God put on your heart that you know you need to do? What is God requiring of you today? At this time in your life? How is it going?
I don’t know what you are specifically struggling with right now, but Jesus can give you overcoming power.
First Get Honest with Yourself
Just go ahead and admit it. We will never be good enough, and we can’t control or overcome our sin on our own.
However, do not cower to condemnation! Jesus is good enough!
And even though we can’t control our sin with human willpower, we can be forgiven.
And God will give us His amazing Holy Spirit to teach and empower us to overcome all things! We can live overcoming lives in the grace and power of Jesus Christ.
So, forgive yourself, forgive others, forgive God!
It is impossible to do this alone, so acknowledge you failures, ask for forgiveness, ask for help, and get back up to try again!
You are worth far more than gold or diamonds; you are valuable! Your heavenly Father believes you are valuable! Your life matters!
Why Can’t I Overcome Sin? How Can I Overcome Sin?
You may say, “Sin always stops me from going to the Lord.”
Sin always separates us from our Lord, but it is easy to fix.
He loves you and wants you to come to Him no matter what you have done.
Simply admit your sin and confess it to Jesus. Give it to Him, and He will give you His peace.
Jesus blood is big enough to cover anything you have done. Jesus never gets tired of us coming to Him with our mistakes.
Then in chapter 8 of Romans, Paul talks about the victory we have through Christ.
The Holy Spirit, Himself intercedes for us in prayer even when we don’t know what to pray. Read that chapter when you get a chance.
Even though we struggle, when we lean on Jesus and ask for help, he gives us grace to overcome.
The Key to Overcome Sin is to Grow Strong in Spirit
I thought I was going to lose weight. I was eating good things and walking regularly.
But I didn’t lose any weight.
Then I got honest with myself about my health habits.
As it turned out, I was not doing enough of the good things to outweigh all the bad things I continued to do.
To have success in our spiritual life and to experience all the wonderful promises God has for us, we simply must choose to add more spiritual things in our daily lives than carnal, fleshly, life-draining things.
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal 5:16).
We will struggle less and less as we learn to walk in the Holy Spirit more and more.
When we spend more time with the Lord in prayer, worship, and His word, we grow in spiritual strength.
We hardly notice at first, then we realize we have grown strong enough so the thing that bothered us before does not bother us anymore.
“The yoke will be broken because [of the anointing/fatness] you have grown so fat [large spiritually]” (Isa 10:27).
To overcome lingering sinful habits becomes a growth issue.
We might be doing the right things, but maybe not enough to break the yokes that hold us in bondage.
We have to grow bigger and stronger so those yokes around our neck will bust and break off.
Growth Boosters
These Biblical exercises can jump-start your spiritual growth or give you a reviving boost:
- Read or listen to a large amount of the Bible—whole books at a time. The words are spiritual words that are alive and powerful to give you spiritual strength you have never experienced before.
- Find and memorize a couple of scriptures that apply to your situation. Meditate on those verses when your mind goes where it should not go. The Bible is powerful to give you strength and power to change! (Google your situation plus the word “verses” to find a verse specifically for your need.)
- Spend a large amount of time in worship and prayer for a few days. Pray in tongues as you worship so that your faith is built up (Jude 1:20).
- You can also fast.
Research fasting before you do a long fast and be aware of physical concerns. However, most people can easily fast until lunch or dinner for a day or two.
There are many ways to fast. Start out small.
Our flesh is accustomed to dominating our spirit, so you may have to force yourself to make it until lunch that first day.
Your flesh will continually tell you it is crazy and you can’t do it.
But you can do it!
Fasting breaks down fleshly willpower and exercises your personal spirit, so that you can hear God’s Holy Spirit more clearly.
Your personal spirit becomes stronger and can commune with God’s Spirit more easily.
The Lord said to me one time, “I’m not trying to starve you, I just want you to experience more of Me.”
Prayer for How to Overcome Sin at their Roots Right Now
To overcome sin once and for all, you may need to find the root cause.
Therefore, take time to go through these steps honestly and sincerely.
1. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the root cause of your issue. What you think may be the root, may not be the root.
Be aware of anything that comes to your mind, people, situations, ideas, pictures, etc.
2. Repent and ask for forgiveness.
3. Forgive others involved.
4. Give the issue to Jesus and ask Him to heal this area in your heart.
I have walked people through these same steps many times, and they have gained deliverance from deep hurts and sins.
I pray this helps you in some way. Keep pursuing God! Keep going after the healing in your soul.
You may need to pray with a pastor or prayer minister and may need to find an accountability partner. All these can encourage and help you overcome all types of sin.
It may help to bookmark or print out this article.
God bless you, I’m praying for you.
