Growing closer to God requires replacing our carnal human nature with His divine nature through the power of His Holy Spirit.
However, godly character cannot develop within us if we have not yet removed sin from our lives. There is no room for righteousness when sin occupies a place in our hearts and minds.
While we recognize that completely extricating sin takes a lifetime of work, we must not become apathetic. Sin happens when we go against the will and commandments of God (1 John 3:4). True repentance involves a complete change of direction. For example, if you repent of the sin of drunkenness, you have decided never to become drunk again. Simply decreasing the frequency or extremity of drunkenness does not equate to godly repentance. If we do repeat the sin, we must repent again.
This concept is in contrast to our culture and Satan's influence. As the father of lies (John 8:44), Satan entices us to sin by slowly encouraging us, hoping that the shift will occur almost imperceptibly. Mixing good with evil, he persuades us to gradually become comfortable with things that are closer and closer to sin, until the momentum of the process propels us directly into evil. We cannot follow the same pattern; as long as sin is present, it can tempt us to go in the wrong direction.
How can we find the strength required to completely get rid of a sin? First and foremost, we must implore God to assist us by coming before Him in prayer, Bible study, fasting and meditation. When we humble ourselves before Him, His strength makes up for our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) and enables us to accomplish all things (Luke 18:27; Philippians 4:13).
Secondly, once a sin has been removed, we need to replace it with something that promotes godliness. Paul used this principle when he explained that the thief must not only stop stealing but also replace his selfish approach to life with a life of giving (Ephesians 4:28).
One of the most effective means of change involves the environment in which we put ourselves. God calls us out of the world and instructs us to separate ourselves from it because its influence unceasingly bombards our minds with temptation (2 Corinthians 6:17). We must realize we are actually working for Satan when we engage in the questionable activities of the world. Until we are convinced that temporary bouts of mindlessness are spiritually harmful, we leave the door open for the god of this world to creep in (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Instead, we are instructed to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). True, as imperfect human beings, we will always fall short (Romans 3:23), but God is eager to forgive us as long as we continue to pursue righteousness (1 John 1:9). We should also assist one another in achieving this goal by supporting one another in choosing godly influences and by seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness first and foremost in our own lives (Matthew 6:33)
Let's work together to grow in the mind of Christ on our journey toward His amazing Kingdom! UN
