“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old.”

(Isaiah 43:18, NKJV)

 

Have you ever found yourself sinning as a Christian? Go ahead and tell the truth! Well, I have, and I hated it! But for a long time, I couldn’t figure out why I was still sinning, when the sin nature had been removed from me when the Holy Spirit came to live on the inside of me during the born-again conversion experience, I received in 1996.

 

A few years ago, I asked God, “Lord, what makes me keep returning to a certain sinful behavior, one that I really hate, and no longer want any part of?”

 

He answered, “Everyone is a sinner by default, you all were born into the curse of the law of sin and death. However, most people have a perpetuating sin that causes them much grief and ultimately, destruction. That kind of sin is born from pain. When humans are hurting, they will find some way to relieve the pain. When the pain is physical, they simply have to stop what’s causing the physical hurt or seek medical attention to assist with stopping the physical hurt. But when the hurt is of the soul, they tend to find a means of comfort as a distraction from the soulish hurt. This is the worst kind of hurt because it is often unseen and undiagnosed for a long period of time. It’s the secret hurt! And the means of comfort for so many people is a thing (drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, fantasizing, money…etc.). But most people don’t understand that things don’t have the capacity to comfort anyone—they are a thing! I am the Comforter!”

 

I can’t tell you how that truth hit me upside my head and knocked some serious sense into me! All that time, and all those years, I had been going to a thing (a bad behavior pattern) to comfort the hurts within my soul, when all along it was God that I needed to comfort me. Especially, the Holy Spirit whom Jesus himself refers to as the Comforter.

 

I thought, I have had oneness with the Holy Spirit since 1996, yet I’m still struggling to lay down a certain sinful behavior, that keeps trying to control me. Why?

 

The Lord answered, “Because you have not yet realized that this is not your stuff! It’s the residue of the old woman you used to be. It was her go to thing, her artificial means of comforting her pain, it’s not yours! You are a new creation in Christ Jesus and that old stuff must pass away! You should not be allowing those old thought patterns which prompted that old sinful behavior to govern you. ‘Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind’ by seeking the real Comforter.

 

Then I finally understood, my flesh had a pattern of behavior that stemmed from soulish hurt. But I don’t live in the flesh anymore. However, if I allow myself to return to the fleshly thinking, the old behavior pattern greets me there. But if I walk only in the Spirit, I abstain from that sinful pattern of behavior because I abstain from that sinful way of thinking. I got it! Hallelujah!!!

 

Well, I am glad to report that the truth has indeed set me free! And God didn’t use shame or blame to do it, He simply helped me to get understanding about the situation. And I hope I’ve passed on the same understanding to you. If you are a Believer still dealing with the "go to sin," get out of the fleshly thinking and come back to the real you. The new you! The better you! And remember, you have a real, loving Comforter to go to in your times of sorrow, brokenness or loneliness. That old sinful behavior doesn’t belong to you. It’s not your stuff!

 

 

Hebrews 12: 1-4, (KJV) states, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”

 

Prayer:

Father, thank You for taking the time to educate us. Help my brothers and sisters who are still struggling with the “go to sin.” Be the Comforter that they need and help them also to renew their minds. Thank You for not condemning us, but for comforting us with Your love. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen!