Give Up Sin For Lent? Which One? Lenten Series Pt. 2

Liz Lampkin CNW Staff Writer

Sin. It’s what separates believers from God. They are daily temptations to step outside of the commands God has in place for believers. They are the actions, some intentional some not, that hinder spiritual growth. Each year for the season of Lent, believers are challenged to fast, pray and sacrifice to emulate Chris’s actions of fasting and prayer as a part of HIs journey to the cross. This is done to reflect on what He did for us and remember Him. Many believers are focused on making materialistic and habitual sacrifices. Some have even been challenged to give up sin. While this is a challenge for all believers, and sinners to practice, how can this be practically and realistically done? How does one who is born of a sinful nature give up what comes naturally to them? Here’s how.

• Know what sins are committed against God according to His Holy Word. We have to recognize what was done, and then confess it to Him. When we confess our sins to God we are in honest agreement with Him about our actions. Many times we aren’t honest with ourselves about the sins we’ve committed, so we rationalize them as mistakes or missteps rather than seeing them as sin.This minimizes them and can cause us to often repeat them. If believers are genuinely trying to become more Christ-like, we must first acknowledge our sins as sins and reflect on why we are drawn to sin. Growth and change can’t happen from our hearts if we aren’t honest about our sins to ourselves and to God.

• Understand that sins are committed against God and not man. Many people take offense to the sins of others and often judge them because they are offended, they’ve forgotten their own sins or they are measuring them against what they would have done. When sins are committed they are against God.

• Ask God for forgiveness. When we ask God for forgiveness from our hearts we are displaying our growth as His children and restoring our relationship with Him. When Jesus died on the cross it was for the sins of the world. However, as sin natured creatures we sin against God daily, therefore we need His forgiveness daily.

• Intentionally practice repentance. Repentance is changing your heart, mind and actions. As a believer, repentance must be a daily practice. It’s vital to the Christian walk to make changes and turn away from sinful thoughts and habits. When you think about it, forgiveness and repentance go hand in hand. While asking forgiveness for a particular sin, one must be prepared to intentionally make changes in their lifestyle.

• Give yourself the grace that God gives you and make good use of it. During the forgiveness and period of grace, take some time to evaluate what sin you committed, why that sin was so tempting and ask for guidance on how to walk away from it, if you are ready to do so.

• Intentionally identify a sin that you would like to rid yourself of and work towards letting it go. If there is a sin you have grappled with and you believe that it’s hindering your spiritual growth and relationship with God, begin taking small steps to walk away from it. Acknowledging, confessing, asking for forgiveness, praying for healing/help and reading God’s Holy Word is a start towards walking away from sin. Human believers are sinners, but the God who lives within gives strength to help sinners be more Christ-like.

Giving up sin is not an easy thing to do, but it can be done one day, one sin at a time. Try to practice giving up one sin this Lenten season so it can become a part of your lifestyle.