Putting Off Your Old Self

Inspired by Eddie McRae’s message “How to Battle Sin” at The Well High School Ministry on Thursday

After a study on Ephesians 4:17-32, a passage Paul writes to encourage the Christian to die to his old self and then to put on a new and righteous self, I decided to explore just how a Christian can put to death his/her old self while obviously still battling the flesh as a human being.

I was prompted by the question, when you continually fall into sin as a believer, how do you once and for all overcome it? I came up with the list below.

When I face temptation, I aim to:

·      Overwhelm myself with Christ. I try to get into a state of mind where I see how great God is and how selfish and wrong it is to disobey Him. I purposely study scriptures about His power, righteousness, and goodness. (Yes, pretty much the whole Bible works for this, but I specifically search for those attributes of God as I read, asking God to show me a glimpse of how great He is.) Once I am overwhelmed with God’s greatness, I find it increasingly easy* to desire to glorify Him rather than myself, and therefore say “no” to temptation.

*When I say easy, I don’t mean EASY easy—this is a spiritual battle and it takes strength to overcome each fight; but for me the discipline becomes easier once I’m reminded of how incredible Christ.

·      Stop all and run to Christ. The Bible says to flee from temptation and seek Christ. When I’m tempted, depending on the situation, I try to stop everything else and pray, or I run (sometimes literally) outside to talk to God and place a physical boundary between myself and whatever sin is tempting me.

·      Force myself to do good and pray until I desire Christ. Sometimes I have absolutely zero desire in my heart to listen to God, but I’ll do it anyway and pray God changes the attitude of my heart. Obeying God with a bad attitude isn’t as glorifying to Christ as a genuine desire to obey Him, but it’s a step in the right direction because it shows a heart of obedience even when it’s annoying/hard/difficult.

·      Recite Scripture. I’ve found that memorizing scripture related to the particular temptation I’m struggling with (or just temptation in general) is extremely helpful. When I hide His Word in my heart, He instructs me with Truth even when I don’t have a Bible right in front of me. I’ll take a passage and write it on my mirror, post it on sticky notes in my car, and say it to myself throughout the day.

·      Recognize God’s grace—true understanding of God’s grace doesn’t lead to the abuse of it; rather, it leads to a humbling which invokes obedience. When I think about God’s love for me—that He was willing to die and remove my sins so we could spend forever together—it becomes difficult for me to spit in His face by continuing in my sin. I deserved death, and I was going to receive death except that Christ died for me and made a way for me to have life. Wow, what wonderful incentive to glorify Him!

·      Tell a friend. Once the temptation is out in the open, it becomes more difficult to continue in it. For starters, you’ve got someone else praying for you. Also, Satan wants us to keep everything in the darkness, and by exposing it he cannot continue to get you all alone. In addition, telling a person leads to accountability—I have wonderful friends who can ask me how I’m doing with a particular issue. Just knowing I will be asked the next time I see someone adds incentive to stay focused on righteousness.

·      Praise Him. If I spend time verbalizing how wonderful God is, I tend to think less of myself and more of Him. As a result, the strength of the temptation is minimized because I’m no longer focused on it, but on my incredible God.

·      Fast and pray. If I’ve been really struggling with a particular sin and nothing seems to work, I will sometimes fast and pray. Many times I’ll fast from something related to the sin (For example, I’ve fasted from chocolate for weeks at a time because God convicted me of a dependence on getting that tasty fix every day—it may sound silly, but it was very real to me. God was clear that He wanted my whole heart and I was ignoring Him to satisfy a chocolate craving throughout the day). Other times I’ll fast from food for a day or a few days to commit myself to prayer. The act of fasting demonstrates a denying of flesh and an extra commitment to invoking the Spirit. Whatever I fast from, I dedicate myself to prayer. When I crave whatever I’m fasting, I pray. The time throughout the day that I normally spend doing whatever I’m fasting from is also spent in prayer. As a result, I am seriously praying for a greater amount of time throughout the day.

·      Maintain an eternal perspective. I try to remember that this world is so temporary. Whatever temptation I face will not last forever and it will pass. Also, the fact that I have maybe failed thousands of times before is insignificant because Christ has healed me. I have the hope of heaven. Keep in mind that it will be a struggle between flesh and spirit until my physical body literally dies, so don’t allow Satan to beat you up for any failures. Instead, hope in Christ, the cross, and the promise of perfection in heaven where there will be no more sin.

·      Test my thoughts. It’s not a sin to be tempted, but it gets tricky when you start entertaining sinful thoughts. I ask myself is this from God or is this Satan trying to trip me up? What does God’s Word say about this statement?

·      Remember I have free will. I don’t rely on any of these tricks to keep me from choosing to sin; I use them to help get my heart on track so that I choose righteousness, but I ultimately have to make the difficult decision to deny my flesh when I want something that is not of the Lord.

·      Prepare myself for future attacks. When I’m struggling with a particular sin, I wake up in the morning and admit to myself that I will likely be tempted that day. I seek to make a commitment that, no matter how strong the urge, I will not give in. I’ll say something like It’s a new day, a chance to make the right decisions. Later I will be tempted with this, as I have been every other day. Lord, I’m committing to resist the temptation I face today. I ask for your strength in this battle and reminders of Your Word as I seek to overcome this. When I mentally and spiritually prepare for the temptation, I’m not surprised when I’m faced with difficult situations and I’m more likely to stay strong.

I don’t practice any of this as perfectly as I should—I often feel like Paul in my struggle between flesh and spirit (Romans 7:14-25). However, I wanted to share what I have found beneficial in putting off my old self when a particular sin keeps eating away at me.

I’m interested to hear from you. What helps you take off the old self and keep it off?

Traveling Back to the States

I've been home for a month now and I'm still trying to adjust to American life, but I wanted to update all you faithful friends and family on my last experience in Tacna.

Many of you know that I made it home safely, but most of you don't know that I ALMOST didn't come home the day of my flight. I got really sick (again) the Tuesday before my Friday flight. I had a ton of plans for my last week in Tacna consisting mostly of letters and gifts I wanted to make and buy for my friends, but I was hardly able to do much that last week. 

Finally, on Thursday night, I got more sick than I had been in Tacna. I went to the church in Local Central for a going away party, but I never actually attended the party. A handful of people did, however, come visit me as I lay on the bathroom floor. It was there that I said goodbye to some of my dearest friends in Tacna.

As the night went on I experienced some of the worst pain of my life. Our friend and doctor, Ebel, gave me an injection that was supposed to make everything feel better. I finally went home with my Peruvian family and team, but the pain continued. We all went to bed, but at 1:30 in the morning I woke up my sister and asked her to call the doctor because I was in excruciating pain. Judith made me the tea the doctor prescribed while Stephanie searched online for a way to change my flight.  

I remember praying, "God, if you want me to stay longer in Tacna, please just tell me. I will stay if that's Your will. But if you want me to go, PLEASE touch me and heal me. You are so powerful, please have mercy on Your child." Within 45 minutes God had given me the release I needed. I told my sister and Judith that I'd let them know in the morning if I would be able to make the 26 hour trip home.

I woke up at 9am the day of my trip and announced, "I think I can do it." My team and family were thrilled, so I frantically started packing my things and finishing up notes and gifts for my Peruvian family in the 3 hours before Brian, the pastor, came to take me to the airport. Judith made me 2 plastic bags of plain rice and 1 bag of boiled chicken so I could eat mild foods throughout my journey.

I said my tearful goodbyes to friends and family and was on my way.

Because I had a 9 hour layover in Lima and was exhausted, the church arranged for a mother of a church member who now lives Lima to pick me up from the airport and allow me to rest for a few hours in her home before my flight. The 8 hours I spent with Tia Orietta became one of the most memorable points from my time in Peru.

Tia Orietta is the most loving and caring person I've ever met. Her warmth toward all people is something that has stuck with me these past few weeks. She demonstrated genuine love toward total strangers (including me). I couldn't thank her enough for her hospitality, but she assured me it was a blessing to help a sister in Christ. She also made me the best chicken soup I've ever had. :) I rested in her home for seven hours and then we prayed together and went back to the airport. She waited an hour alone for me to check in my bags and walked me to security where we hugged goodbye as if we'd known each other for years. 

Watching the way she interacted with me and others in those few 9 hours has inspired me to demonstrate Christ to all people in every situation. Tia Orietta isn't just a nice person who smiles at everyone she meets; it's as if her every encounter with other people--friend or stranger--screams, "You're valuable to God and, therefore, to me!" The way she talked to and cared for me, the way she treated our taxi drivers and the taxi drivers we walked past, the way she loved and disciplined her 9 year old daughter--it all reflected a person who values Christ and others.

I tried to use what I'd learned from Tia Orietta in my interactions with people throughout my travel home. I'm not sure how successful I was considering I couldn't verbalize things quite the way she had, but in my heart I was definitely loving the strangers I encountered.

After 26 hours of travel and little sleep, I arrived at LAX. I was finally "home!" I rushed through baggage claim and customs to find my parents waiting for me. I had a lot of things to sort out emotionally, physically and spiritually, but I could not deny God's hand upon my safe and even healthy travel back to the States.