ROSE WRITES: There are lots of sins I struggle with daily, sins like ingratitude or self-righteousness. I know I’m not alone. As Christians young people, we may not be out there killing people or doing some crazy big sins, but we all wrestle with little, equally shameful sins. I’m asking you to be transparent and help me here. How do we fight these small, daily sins?
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Focus on Jesus. The more you adore Him the more you’ll hate anything that gets in the way of your joy with Him.
I just finished reading Lies Young Women Believe, and Hannah Gresh and Nancy Leigh DeMoss say this: all sins come from lies we believe about God, ourselves, scripture, etc., and the only thing you can conquer lies with is truth. So to work on your sins, start saturating yourself with truth – God’s word – to get rid of the underlying lies that are causing you to sin! 🙂
I love that book!
The only things that can help with this is surrounding yourself in God’s Word and in prayer, those are your best weapons against sin.
Ephesians 6:10 and following. 🙂
Depend on God’s grace. Remember that He loves you the same no matter what you do. Romans 5:17-18, “For if by one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life thought he One, Jesus Christ.)”
Don’t think about the sin you might be struggling with, focus on Jesus and you won’t even do the sin any more. 🙂 Receive forgiveness and keep on moving!
Prayer helps me. And Scriptures that I remember.
“Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2
This has become my go-to verse for how to avoid “small” sins that can sneak in super easily. I think of it like cleaning a room, dirt is going to get in your head and your life, nothing you can do about that. But that’s why you clean, to remove the dirt and keep things in working order. The way I do that is by “renewing my mind”, by taking time regularly to study the Bible, spend time in prayer, and connecting with other believers to share my struggles so they can keep me accountable. I also find it helpful to put sticky notes with relevant verses in places that I will see them throughout the day, as reminders to keep fighting the dirt and keep renewing.
If something enters my mind I immediately pull myself up for it and don’t act on it. If the thought persists, I pray, or recite verses in my head to try and take my mind away from the temptation and concentrate on better things. It’s hard. Remember we call it a battle because that’s what it is. And since you’ve said be honest, I’m not gonna lie: you’re gonna have to do a lot of repenting because you’re gonna mess up a lot. Just keep your eyes on Jesus and if you want practical advice, try and catch the thoughts the moment they’re there and don’t dwell on them. Memorizing scripture can help.Or praying, thinking about what you read in your bible this morning or thinking over the sermon from Sunday. These will put your mind on better things. Catch it as early as you can.
Scripture memory is a great way to keep our eyes on Christ instead of this life. Also, we have to remember that we are more than conquerors through Jesus! So remember, He will pull you through whatever temptations you have. I know I have to rely on Him everyday!
Oh, I like the suggestion of scripture memorization! It’s something you grow up doing in Sunday school, but you never really think about it after that–having bible verses memorized can be so comforting if you really need some truth during the day, and God often uses them to remind you of things by pulling them to the forefront of your mind. 🙂
I think being honest with ourselves is important. I catch myself saying “well, it isn’t THAT bad.” But sin is sin. Its all the same. But as it says in Romans says “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Jesus died for those everyday little sins too. God still loves you just as much as he ever has and ever will.
Prayer is important as well. Really pray over those tough, stubborn sins and give them up to God. Jesus said that those who ask will receive. Ask God to keep you aware of those particular sins.
But most of all, know that you aren’t alone. We all have junk! My youth pastor always says that one of the biggest lies the devil uses is “you are the only one.” But you’re not. Keep that in mind 🙂 Hope this helps!
I think that dependence on God to overcome “small” daily sins is crucial. It is so easy to get in a habit of beating myself up over that obvious sin that I continue to commit. I forget that it is in His strength, not mine that the battle is waged and won. I think that this attitude is very hard to maintain though, so I do have some practical suggestions for ways to wage war on daily sin.
1. Confess, confess confess!!!! Confess to God for sure, but I think that it is also important to confess to actual people. The reason for this is that confession allows the sin to be brought out into the light. Don’t let it hide in the darkness where it will fester and grow. Satan wants you to hide that sin, whatever it is, because he knows that you can’t fight it on your own. So confess it! Tell someone trusted you are struggling with it! Confess often and repeatedly! (James 5:16)
2. Search out the heart of sin. Are you prideful? What does that stem from? Perhaps you are insecure and taking pride in things helps you feel better about yourself. Are you lying? What sin is causing you to want to lie to cover it up? Are you struggling with sexual sin? Does that root in a need for acceptence or a need for love? I think that it is important to understand why you sin before you can really understand what to pray for.
3. Look for patterns. I know that for myself, patterns are important to my sin. For example, staying up late watching movies or youtube videos may not only lead to impure thoughts/actions, but also will lead to me sleeping in later in the morning, which may lead to me not getting homework done, which may lead to lying about the homework, etc. All of that comes from one bad habit! I know that when I have a lot of schoolwork, I will tend to procrastinate, which might lead to unhealthy/sinful coping mechanisms. Even certain days of the week are more difficult. Know your patterns and try to plan ahead to beat them, or at least try to recognize when you are falling into a sinful pattern.
4. Pray, pray, pray! The more your thoughts are centered around God, the less you will be tempted to sin and the more aware you will be of your sin. This week has been a great example of that for me, as I have been very habitual about praying throughout the day. As I pray and dwell on Him, I’ve noticed times when I am very prideful. Instead of indulging in that or just letting it go, I pray for humility. It has been very revealing!
Just to qualify this advice, I definitely still struggle with daily sin! I think we get caught up very easily in the lie that “I am the only one.” You are NOT the only one! Every Christian has their individual struggles. Every Christian has junk that they battle with on a daily basis.
That’s some really good practical advice, Haley! I know that I sin, but often I want to ignore it and say, “Confess? What do I have to confess?” This has really made me think. Thanks for sharing 😀
This is so well-thought out and I especially love your point about patterns! One seemingly insignificant action can lead to many more sins.
There are so many great suggestions and tips here, I don’t want to be treading the same path again. But here’s my little note.
Throughout my day I know I sin. It’s mostly called to my mind at night – once all the lights are out, the house is quiet, and I have my quiet time with God. That’s when everything comes rushing to me. Every nitty gritty bad thing comes slamming into me and I feel overwhelmed by the little sins I’ve committed throughout the day. Which comes to your question – what can I do?
The best way I’ve found is to divide and conquer. Ever tried playing tag and chasing everybody at once? That never goes well. You need to zero in on one person (or sin in this case.) and chase it down until you’ve got it. Let’s say the prevailing little sin is frustration. Sure maybe there’s ingratitude, pride, and any a few others. I think the best place to start would be just find verses that will give you peace when you want to blow it. Then remember those verses when you get frustrated. Once you’ve conquered that problem – move onto the next!
*reads comments* *is impressed* Great job guys! I couldn’t say this better! Keep it up!
Ugh, yes, this is so hard! And a lot of the time, I’m so focused on bigger things that I overlook things such as snapping at my brother or feeling really jealous while I’m on social media. I don’t think about them; I just go on with my day. But as you said, they are equally shameful. I don’t really have a great answer here since I struggle with this every day! But I probably need to start praying about these sins way more, and also just being attuned to them. If I really pay close to attention to what I’m doing, how my tone of voice sounds, the things I’m looking at and how I’m spending my time, then I should be able to notice them right when they happen and pray about them to nip it in the bud.
Thank you Ellyana so much for tips. It’s so theological, but so simple at the same time. Your comments are going to be personally put to good use in my life. Thanks again:-)