Defeating Sin

Many times I will have people come to me and ask me as their pastor how they stand against sin and temptation.  Psalm 141 provides a good answer.  In verses 3-5, David writes:

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
⁴ Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies.

⁵ Let a righteous man^[a] strike me—it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it. (NIV, 1984)

 

 

How do we stand firm against sin?  These verses suggest two ways.  First, we must pray for God's help in fighting sin.  Often we make the mistake of thinking our willpower can beat temptation.  It cannot.  We need to pray that God would guard our mouths, our actions, or desires that we might stay true to Him.  Second, we must be willing to take correction from godly people.  This means setting up relationships of accountability with strong Christians who can tell us if we are going the wrong way. Being struck with correction and rebuke is not pleasant, but there is no way to fight against sin if we are not willing to be corrected. 

 

So what are two important keys to defeating sin?  God's power and God's people.