[SSFSX17]

I've read about 9/10ths through the book Inside Out, but I got to the point where I realized that I was unable to continue unless I dealt with my own sins first.

The problem I encounter most often is that, rather than being convicted about the harsh realities of my own sin, I just think, "Yeah, that's sin alright," in a casual manner. It doesn't hit me hard as being especially hurtful or sinful. I'm unable to completely feel the powerful reality.

[Dice]

1) Pray about it - 1 Timothy 4:2 shows us that as we continue in sin like this it's like our conscience is seared with a branding iron. The meaning behind this is that the first time it hurts, but then the next time ti hurts less, and again and again you become ore insensitive until you don't mind at all (and as the rest of that passage shows leads to all kinds of false doctrine) You can't change that, only God can heal and soften your heart again.

2) Get an accountability partner - James 5:16 tells us to confess our sins to one another and pray for each other's sins to be healed, and multiple other scriptures say the same thing by telling us to be truthful with each other and such. Then added to this are multiple other scriptures which tell us to build each other up in prayer and encouragement, this is all what accountability is about. I really don't think you need to be real close to the person, so long as you are righteous and earnestly seeking God. When 4 other guys and I were elected to be leadership for this Christian club, we hardly knew each other, but we were all for god, and became accountability partners right off. It was hard at first but now we are closer than brothers, and in fact now we can be honest with others about our struggles too (we dont go around telling everyone, but if it's appropreate no prob) This helps like you wouldn't believe, by letting go and freeing your sin from yourself, you find more freedom from that sin.

3) Don't just stop, replace evil with good - If you try to stop sinning and only stop, you are going to fail. Because when you take away the sin what is left? a sinful you, and because of that you will fall into it again. But rather than just stopping, you must replace evil with good. Look at everything in your life, think about whether the things it is about share atributes of God or not, if not then whether you like it or not, that is opposing God and evil. Romans 12:9 tells us that our love must be sincere, and in that we are to hate what is evil and cling to what is good. Now if you hate somethign what do you do? you get it out of your life. so hate what is evil and then cling to what is good. In Matthew 5 and 18 Jesus makes examples of cutting off appendages if they cause you to sin, now of course disabled people still sin so He is speaking figuratively. In that if something in your life is causing you to sin, remove it from your life, no matter how dear to you it is. Then Romans 13:14 tells us to leave no provision for sin, to (as far as our ability) not even allow ourselves the chance, then Hebrews 12:1 tells us not only to cast off our sin, but even all hinderances to our pursuit of God. And then finally to back up all of this, Ephesians 6:12 tells us that our battle is not against flesh but against the spiritual, so why wait until the time of testing to fight? That is fighting against the flesh, but fighting against the spiritual happens before the battle, which is why it goes into the armor of God directly after that verse.

Now why am I telling you all this? Simple, Galatians 5 tells us that the spirit and the flesh counteract each other. And that when we build ourselves in the flesh we don't desire the things of the spirit, and vice-versa. So when you do all these things and take steps into not only keeping from sin but living in righteousness, love, humility and servanthood towards God and towards all at all times (Philippians 2, Romans 12, and tons of other scriptures) We build ourselves in spirit, and when we build ourselves in spirit we stop desiring the ways of the flesh, and in fact come into God's mindset and dispise them. If you bothered to read all that (and please read the scriptures I posted, it's good to listen to scripturally-based advice but reading the actual scripture is more powerful) I hope it helps.

[Dice]

Oh, and remember it's not about taking control and going "alright this sin is bad, I gotta get rid of it" but it's about giving up control and saying "God what do you want me to do?" and then through doing that God does His work in you and the sin naturally goes away. In much the same way often in life we try to control situations through prayer, telling God what to change in our lives to make them better/easier or something. But often when we do this the change that needs to happen isnt in our life to make it easier, but in ourselves that we would deal with it in a more righteous manner. The greatest impact on our lives is ourselves, but the greatest impact on ourselves is God. So we need to remember it's never about taking control, because whatever happens, whether seeming good or bad at the time, everything is in God's control and fulfilling His plan (Romans 8:28) But what we need to do is let go of control and our own desires, and ask God what He wants and how we need to change for that to happen, and then of course seek Him and His guidance in making that change.

[gymnast_girl_27]

SSFSX17:

I don't really have anything to add to what has already been said on here- I think MrMcB summed it all up! but I wanted to tell you that I can relate to how you feel. I began praying that God would change my heart and let me see how I was affecting others, and how I was destroying my own life. I encourage you to do the same. keep seeking God!