Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. (Romans 6:14)
Falling into sin does not have to define you, your calling or your ministry. Everyone sins at some time. I John 1:8 says,”If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” The key to being successful is repenting and getting back up! So many followers of Jesus stay down when they sin, and fail to get back up because they feel condemned. Condemnation should no longer be lived in if you belong to Jesus. We need to realize that everyone of us will be tempted by Satan with the things that we always struggled with. If you have come out of a past of cheating, you will be tempted to cheat. If you have come out of a past of sexual perversion, you will be tempted with sexual sin. What needs to be kept in mind is that the deeper we go in Christ, the less these temptations have a hold on us. You need to see yourself as the beloved of God. You are not your temptations!
If we continue to degrade ourselves by categorizing our temptations as bad, really bad or horrible, then we will feel bad, really bad or horrible every time we are tempted. Sin is sin and temptation is temptation. All have sinned and all are tempted. Temptation is dealt with by the greatest of ministers to the worst offenders of morality. It is what we do with temptation that matters. We need to run to Jesus and even if we fall at times, run back to Him. Repentance means that we run the other way. God’s word tells us that repentance has been granted to us. If repentance has been granted to us that means there will always be things we need to repent from.
We always have the power through the Holy Spirit to do what is right but when we fail to do right, we can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy in time of need. (Hebrew 4:16)
If you have failed, fallen or sinned; get back up, tell God about your sorrow , repent and simply move forward. There is no need to walk in condemnation or with your head down. In Christ you are not expected to be perfect, you are expected to submit to God and walk with Him knowing that He loves you, He forgives you, He has patience with you, He won’t let you go and He won’t give up on you!
One of the ways that the enemy uses in order to keep us from living in victory is that he will send people in our lives that try to pull us down. Because of our weakness or perhaps wounds in our soul, we are drawn away from what we know to be truth and we fall. James 1:14 says, “But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.” So we are all tempted by our own human, fleshly desires and we are enticed into doing things that we ought not do. It could be lying, cheating, anger, lust, sexual immorality, whatever the temptation is, the enemy knows who and what to use to get us to fall. Because we know this, we must also be aware of the great grace that God has for us as we walk out this life. The key to success over sin is realizing that we are no longer defined by it. Our identity is in Christ, not what we’ve done or the mistakes we’ve made.
Satan’s desire is to keep you down so that you are of no effect for God’s kingdom. Get back up and do what God
has called you to do!
The Ministry of Michael Cannatello TMMC
lazarusministry.com
