Can you Ever Beat a Stubborn Sin? – Rural Reset 10/21 [12]

Host: TJ Freeman

Summary: In this episode of Back to Rurality, hosted by rural pastor TJ Freeman, listeners are guided on how to combat persistent and challenging sins by understanding and utilizing the ordinary means of grace provided by God. 

Key Points:

• The Deceitfulness of Sin: Freeman discusses how sins deceive us, using examples such as anxiety, addiction, and anger, and emphasizes the destructive nature of sin.
• Renewal of the Mind: Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christians can fight sinful patterns by reading Scripture and regularly praying. 

Listener Takeaways:

• No sin is too powerful for a Christian to overcome. Take heart in this truth!
• Seek to be in regular fellowship with other Christians. The Church was made to support each other in their fight for holiness. 
  
  
  

Connect with Us:

• Website: backtorurality.com
• Social Media: Facebook

Transcript

You dealing with a sin that's really hard to stop? Maybe you still really enjoy it. You're not sure you're ready to give it up just yet. Or maybe you hate it. You don't know how to stop it. You wish you could. Well, by the time you're done with this episode, you're gonna know what the next step you need to take is to get you away from that sin.

Let's jump in and get back to rurality. Hi, my name is TJ Freeman, and I am a rural pastor. I live in the middle of nowhere, just like you, and I'm the host of this podcast. I created this podcast with you in mind. You're a rural Christian, and you might not have the best access to a healthy church or to some of the services, resources that Christians who live in bigger areas might have, or you might even be somebody who's not yet a Christian, but there's something going on that has you thinking about these things. And because you live in the middle of nowhere, you just really aren't sure where to turn. So you ended up here on this podcast.

I'm so glad you're here today. We're talking about really tough sins, those things that just get a grip on you and feel like they're almost impossible to stop. You know, one of the biggest problems with sin is that it's so good at deceiving us. Think about what happened with Adam and Eve in the garden.

What did that serpent slither on in there and do? Convinced Eve that, eh, it's really not that big a deal if you eat that fruit. Did God really say these things? Is that really gonna happen? He lied. He deceived Eve. And Adam was deceived too. And in that moment, sin came into the world. And that's what sin's been doing ever since.

So you should understand that all your sins are lying to you. Do you really want to hang out with somebody you can't trust? Because they're always lying? It's a terrible person to hang out with. Well, that's what happens when you hang out with sin. It always lies to us. It can deceive you into believing that it's not that big a deal.

It can also deceive you into believing that it can't be beat. Let's take anxiety. For example, if you have anxiety, there's a good chance that someone else in your family tree, if you give it a good hard shake, You're going to find, Oh, this person had anxiety too. I'm anxious. Cause my mom was anxious and she's anxious because her mom was anxious.

And it just goes on back down the line.

So there's this generational connection that makes it seem like, is this genetic or what's going on here? More than that, anxiety feels like something that just happens to you. It's not something you decide like, Oh, I'm going to go pop the top on a nice cool bottle of anxiety. Okay. And see how that tastes.

No, it just kind of happens to you. It feels like something that's out of your control. Sometimes it even feels noble. Well, I'm just worried this much because I care this much. Well, let me tell you, anxiety isn't just something that happens to you. There is sin connected to it. And unless you're willing to see that and address it, you're going to suffer with anxiety forever.

It's going to get worse and worse. The same thing. Is true with addiction. Maybe you're addicted to alcohol. Most alcoholics are not first generation alcoholics. This is something that seems to get passed on down the family line. But once you give into the bottle. It feels like a death sentence. How can you ever beat something that has such a powerful control over you?

In fact, if you've been drinking a lot for a long time, the withdrawal that you'd experienced by stopping literally could be enough to kill you. What are you supposed to do with that? Addiction to drugs is not that dissimilar. You like that word dissimilar. It means that there's a similar issue going on.

In fact, Drugs can change your brain chemistry. And once you're hooked, you're really hooked. Is it really possible to stop? I mean, forever, or are you just always going to be an addict? The list goes on anger. Anger is something that if you're angry, there's a good chance. Somebody else in your family was angry and you don't mean for it to happen, but your blood just boils and it spills out bitterness.

Maybe something really bad happened to you. You can't imagine being able to let that go. You want to, but you don't know how a big one that a lot of people struggle with is lust. If lust has its hooks in you, it can just draw you and pull you and continue to lie to you. And you. You feel like no matter how much you open up about it, or how much you pray about it, you just keep going back.

There are some that are less known, like eating disorders. Some we don't think about as much, like jealousy or pride. Workaholism. Habitual lying. There's all kinds of sins that can work their way into our lives and convince us that we're just a victim of this thing. And it's not that you don't take responsibility, because you do.

You may even just cry out and say, I'm so broken and I'm so flawed and I just want this to go away, but it won't feel like the sin is such a grip on you. You can't ever change. This is super duper frustrating. And I hate that it exists and I understand it. I shared on the last episode a little bit about some, a struggle that I have with a fear of flying, that fear of flying really was just a part of a bigger symptom and that's my own struggle with anxiety.

My anxiety got so bad in college. I was worried about my family driving out to pick me up at the end of the semester. I was like pacing around. I was just out of sorts all morning. You know what I forgot? Hey, maybe you should go take your final. Nope. Totally forgot to go take my final. Thankfully a very kind economics professor called me up and said, Hey, you missed the final this morning.

Everything okay. I told him what had happened and he was really gracious to let me go make up the final. Anxiety literally almost cost me my GPA and that was a really big deal because I didn't have the highest GPA to begin with. These kinds of things get a hold of you. I had stomach aches, I had the sweaty palms.

I was consumed by these thoughts. I'd wake up in the night just with knots in my stomach. I feel like a victim to that thing. I know what it feels like and I hate it so much. So, what do you do when you get into these things? Sometimes you try to fight them. Maybe you pray, you quote some scripture, but you feel like, eh, it just doesn't seem like it's doing that much.

That's why people have that expression. You know, don't, don't just try to slap a Bible verse like a bandaid onto my problems. Maybe you've even reached out to somebody and asked for help, but even the accountability doesn't seem to be doing it for you. Other times you might just try to bury it. You might try to fight it alone.

You might try to pretend it's not really a problem. There's all kinds of ways we respond. Some of them are on the side of just trying to cope. Others are really trying to deal with it, but feeling like we're not getting anywhere. So here's the deal. You're ready for the, for the big news. There's a special tool that you have. To fight really hard sins. You know what it's called?

The means of grace. You ever hear of that term before? The means of grace? We know that God is gracious, but His grace doesn't just get poofed, like, you know, dropped on us like whatever makes a poofing sound. God uses means to extend His grace to us. And here's the thing. They're actually the same, no matter how potent or powerful the sin is.

And you know what they are. It's the Word of God, it's the Spirit of God, it's prayer, and it's the people of God. Those are the things you need. But there's a way that I can help us think through it that will be helpful for you. I hope. The number one thing is, you could go back and listen to the episode on loving God.

Your love for God is going to be the greatest tool. tool you have in fighting sin. Because the more you understand of God and the bigger and more lovely and attractive He is, the more you walk in faith knowing that whatever the sin is and the lie it's telling you, God's better than that and you actually want Him.

Even if it doesn't seem like it. And this isn't like debate and switch, like, healthy food. You know, once you get off the ice cream and Pepsi, you're going to realize that Brussels sprouts were really always way better tasting to begin with. No, they're not. I like Brussels sprouts. Pour some vinegar on those things.

Awesome. Dude, give me a bag of chips and a bowl of cookie dough ice cream. And I am going to really enjoy that a whole lot more than a vinegar covered oven roasted brussel sprouts. God is not like that. God actually is more lovely. He is more satisfying. He is more delightful. Your flesh is going to say, ain't no way.

I've never seen him. I don't know how I'm supposed to be satisfied by A spirit who is not visibly present to me, who I can't just look at and talk to in the same way I would a human or hear from in the same way I would a human. But listen, God is so lovely and beautiful and kind to reveal himself in ways that testify to our spirit.

They hit us in a way that nothing else can. You know like when you see a really breathtaking view and there's something in you that's just like, Oh, that's amazing. And you actually know that standing there looking at that view is better than sitting in your house watching it on TV. Even though that would have been easier and might have seemed like more fun in the moment.

You're so glad you went to see the view. God testifies to our spirit through His Spirit. In a way that's really life giving and soul satisfying. And you just have to take the step of faith to see that, believe it, walk into that, and just trust. Okay, I'm gonna see more of God. I'm gonna love Him more. And my sin is gonna be less desirable because God becomes more desirable.

So you see God for who He is. You see your sin for what it is. A stinking lie. It's gross. It's dirty. It defiles you. It separates you from God. It separates you from other people. Sin is destructive. As pretty as a package as it might come in, it is destructive and deadly. When you give into your sin, you're drinking poison.

You don't want that. Especially when there's such a delightful alternative. So see God for who he really is. See your sin for what it really is. And then start to do what Romans 12, say, be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Listen. You're not a special case. I'm sorry to say that to you so bluntly, but you need to hear it.

You're not a special case. Your sin is not especially potent compared to other people's sin. It may have its claws in you right now, but the Bible is still true, and you can be transformed through the renewal of your mind. God wants to do that for you. Put in your head Bible things and shut down the non Bible things.

Lean into that. Trust the Lord. Understand who God is. Understand what sin is. Understand that the Bible's true and it will transform you. And here's what you do. You get on your knees. You cry out to God. You repent, meaning you turn from your sin consciously. You ask for God's forgiveness. You plead for his help, for wisdom.

You pray prayers like teach me to number my days so that I might get a heart of wisdom. And lastly, you need to get involved with other Christians. Don't expect those Christians to fix you. Don't get mad at them that they didn't put enough protection in your life to preserve you, but do rely on them knowing that You're part of a body.

The people of God are called the body of Christ. Every Christian is a part of that body, and you're meant to depend on the other body parts. So you do need to reach out to other Christians who God means to help you. Maybe there aren't that many in your community. Maybe you don't even know any. Find some.

Pray and ask that the Lord will bring people into your life. If there's a church you can get involved with and you're not already in your community, I highly encourage that but that's what we're going to talk about on the next episode. I hope this one's been helpful We've talked about some tools for fighting sin We've realized that the means of grace are the means of grace no matter how stubborn the sin is Lean into that trust the lord and I would just say as a final action item Do commit to dealing with it.

Don't let this thing rock your world anymore It doesn't have to, you really can be free with God's help. This episode is part of a 21 episode series called Rural Reset. Here on Back to Rurality, I just want to help you get a spiritual baseline, kind of like physical fitness. You could do the 21 day fix that I think Beachbody does.

This is the 21 day Rural Reset, where we're just getting back to a baseline spiritually, where you can be free to love God. To live for his glory. He's got you out there in the middle of nowhere for a reason. And you need to be as spiritually fit as you can. So you can walk in the good works that he's prepared beforehand.

And we need you to be spiritually fit. We're in this fight together to make God's glory known to the ends of the earth. Your little town, even though it's in the middle of nowhere, like mine. It matters for the sake of God's glory and he's put you in it for a reason. So go back to episode three. If you want to pick up to where this rural reset begins, glad you're on this journey with me.

I'd love to get to know you head over to facebook. com slash back to rurality. or backtorurality.com would you mind taking a moment though right now and just leave a rating and a review on your podcasting app that will really help us get the word out to other people who live in the middle of nowhere and God means to use for the sake of his glory.

Thanks for listening. For now, let's get back to life. Back to Rurality.