Why does it seem like we always go through seasons of doing what’s right and wrong? It seems to be a never-ending cycle. Have you been there? I know I have.
To counter sin we must first determine our own sinful desires. I recommend making a “lust list” so that you can have a starting point to change your life. Stop and take some time right now to make a list of ways your desires get out of control.
So you’ve made your list. Now what? Repent. Now’s the time. Take that list, confess your sin to Jesus, your Fiancé, and start walking the road of righteousness. If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (see 1 John 1:9).
That word “just” in 1 John 1:9 means exactly that, as in justice. God’s justice has been served—on our Fiancé. Jesus is the One who paid for all the world’s whoredom: “God…hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 5:18).
[Tweet “It is imperative that we plant our flag in the rock of truth that God is faithful-@monicaonairtalk”]
Trust. It is imperative that we plant our flag in the rock of truth that He is faithful and will forgive us, heal us, and make us whole. Accept. Accepting that we are heard, understood, forgiven, and cleansed can be a real challenge for some of us. But accepting His acceptance of us is crucial to not returning to our sin. “But will my repentance, trust, and acceptance of God’s forgiveness stick?” you might ask. “I’ve tried before and failed.”
If you’ve been in church very long, you’ve likely heard of appropriating the blood of Jesus in our lives. What does that mean, exactly? What does it look like? In its simplest form, it means that we decide to believe what God says about us, and we step on anything that feels, thinks, or speaks to the contrary (see Eph. 2:6).
We speak directly to those revealed patterns of lower-level thinking, feeling, and living, and we declare the truth over them and stand. We turn from anything contrary to the life promised to us and run like mad to the safety of our Father (see Ps. 91).
Finding Freedom
Once we’ve gained this knowledge of repentance and confession and appropriation and started applying it, we’re on the path to dealing with our cycles of whoredom, once and for all. But even then, it isn’t a downhill ride.
For starters, upon our turning away from our sin in repentance and appropriating the blood of the Lamb, all hell will rise up to tell us that it is not possible. It will whisper that it is futile, that we will, in fact, die. Or that we are once and for all saved, so what’s the big deal?
Besides the enemy opposition, we beat ourselves up. It’s not always easy for us to receive mercy. Many of my friends say things to try to feel better about their fear of potential judgment, such as “What goes around comes around.” But when we sit and commiserate with quirky sayings like that, we are in direct alignment with our enemy and not in fellowship with our kingdom. Sure, what we sow, we reap, but how many things have we sown that never sprouted, thank God,?
[Tweet “Are you believing the truth of who God says you are? “]
Thankfully, unlike karma and the “Universe” (the world’s new favorite term for our Father), the living and true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, also known as Love, keeps no record of wrongs (see 1 Cor. 1:13). He just doesn’t. It is written. Don’t argue with me—tell your devils, in His name, to take it up with Him. (I have to send the ones assigned to me to His throne regularly.)
We still have the “being of sin”—our flesh—to deal with (see Rom. 7:17). Paul makes it clear that even when we want to do right, we don’t always do it but quite the contrary. We have the being of sin that dwells within us to thank for that. That might make us feel as if the odds are stacked against us. But we simply need a deeper revelation of the power of God’s mercy and grace and of our Daddy’s and our Fiancé’s heart toward us (see Ps. 136). We need to see exactly what was completed at that cross and in the resurrection of Christ. God wants us to see ourselves through His eyes, through Their eyes. We can do this! But not without Them.
Walking in Truth
When we embrace their view of us, our Heavenly Father and Jesus, we can live from that higher place. We are no longer slaves to sin, to lower-level living. When we walk in relationship with Them, we can be good. It’s time to remind ourselves of who we were created to be from the beginning. When God made us, we were the gleam in our heavenly Daddy’s eye, remember? We were awesome! “God saw everything that He had made”—that included man—“ and, behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31).
So God made Monica, and He saw her and said, “She is very good.” Stop right here and insert your name. Do it! Tell that unloving, anti-Christ (anti-love) spirit that doesn’t believe it to leave you be, in Jesus’ name, and just say it. Out loud! Not once but three times. Ready?
“In the beginning God made _____________________ [you, my beautifully awesome sister], and He saw me and said, ‘She. is. very. good.’” Got it? God said that about you! Pretty amazing. And all God’s children said, “Amen!”
True enough, we did nothing, zero, zip, to deserve anything good from God (see Eph. 2:8–9). And yes, our righteousness is as filthy rags (see Isa. 64:6). Seriously. But that is not His heart toward us now (thanks to our Fiancé), nor was it His heart when They first created us (see Gen. 1:31).
[Tweet “We did nothing, zero, zip, to deserve anything good from God – @monicaonairtalk”]
In spite of our fallen nature, you will notice that the Godhead has always left a few of us human spirit-beings here on earth (even as few as eight one time; see Gen. 6:6–8; 7:11–13). He could have annihilated (and nearly did) the entire human race, but I personally believe that They didn’t because They have hope for Their creation. That includes you and me. Again, our Fiancé, Jesus Christ, is proof of that.
So settle it once and for all in your being that you are fearfully and wonderfully made and that God says you are good. And in that truth, you can be good.
About the Author
Monica Matthews is the mother of one amazing daughter, a Grammy-nominated vocal artist, musician, Christian ministry leader, author, speaker, and the host of The Monica Matthews Show. Her latest book When Jesus Isn’t Enough: The Ultimate Meal for the Starving Single Woman is available now. Connect with her on Twitter | Facebook | Blog.
