RELIGION COLUMNIST

OPINION | BRENETTE WILDER: Sin’s Strategy, God’s Purpose

Brenette Wilder
Brenette Wilder


Sin gained its reputation by conquering vulnerable behaviors settled snugly into our fleshly desires that are difficult to shake loose. If unaltered, we become contaminated with conduct we don't like. In fact, the more we are unable to do what's right, the more evident it becomes that we are not in control. And we find ourselves either surrendering to sin's grasp or submitting to God's authority.

Two of sin's strategies are to destroy relationships and God's purpose for living. It seeks out the simplest ways to contaminate what God meant for good. An innocent word can be turned into a dagger. Sheltering in place can become a prison cell of the mind. Watching or listening to unhealthy programs can preoccupy your thoughts. There are a number of ways sin steals, divides, and creates discord to sustain its reputation.

The Apostle Paul experienced this. Even though he wanted to do the right thing, sin's grip caused him to do what he hated (Romans 7:15-25.) Through Paul's writing, I discovered that sin doesn't need to battle the whole man. Sin can gain success by attacking smaller areas in our lives. Territories we seldom pray for are just enough battle ground to inflict damage. Weak unguarded territories can become easy targets to be overthrown. And, once one territory is conquered, sin searches for a new one, building on his successes.

Unfortunately, sin will not end until Jesus' return for His children, but Jesus gave us a way to control it in His absence. Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set us free (Romans 7:25b.) By accepting Jesus into our hearts, we are no longer controlled by sin. Jesus is our salvation.

When we intervene to fix things, we find out quickly how powerless we are. In our strength, sin overtakes us and wins the battle. In defeat, the atmosphere around us darkens. Our ability to think becomes cloudy. Our vision to see clearly is impaired. Even our hearing become selfish. We become separated from the light of God, and we spiral into a pattern of untruths revealing to us how sin's stain reaches beyond hurtful words or actions.

When Jesus intervenes, we are no longer controlled by the flesh, we are controlled by the Spirit: "For the power of the life-giving Spirit -- and this power is mine through Christ Jesus -- has freed me from the vicious circle of sin and death... He sent his own Son in a human body like ours --except that ours are sinful -- and destroyed sin's control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins. So now we can obey God's laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us." ― Romans 8:2-4.

I think it was Flip Wilson who said, "the devil made me do it." And he was absolutely right. Paul says it this way, "... Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me." ― Romans 7:21. Verse 20 precedes this by saying, "it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it."

What we fail to see is that the damage we cause to others has the potential to extend beyond the person or situation. The damage is really against God. The people on the receiving end of our actions are merely war casualties. We aim our hurt-arrow toward others, but the shot was a bull's eye straight at God. The person was a small distraction that sin used to move you farther away from God's plan, voice, and protection.

Even though Flip Wilson said, the devil made me do it, we are not without excuse. The indwelling Holy Spirit is constantly trying to help us. Deep within you can hear him. It's the Spirit's voice that is telling us to stop. Pause. Don't say that. Our conscience gives us a feeling of unrest. In that moment of unease, we struggle with doing the right thing because sin wants to win! Sin's been trying to win over God's children since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3.

The battle is real folks, but there is hope. You don't need to be controlled by sin any longer. Jesus' death on the cross created a new way to control sin through the Holy Spirit. He wants to give us what sin is trying to take from us. Don't surrender in battle. Persevere in relationships with Jesus and with others.

Brenette Wilder of Lee's Summit, Mo., (formerly of Altheimer, Ark.), is founder of Kansas City Teen Summit, blogger at (wordstoinspire105953116.wordpress.com), and author of Netted Together (https://nettedtogether.org.)

Editor's note: Pastors, ministers or other writers interested in writing for this section may submit articles for consideration to shope@pbcommercial.com. Please include your phone number and the name and location of your church or ministry. Writers should have a connection to Southeast Arkansas.


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