Always remember grace. Satan's greatest weapon is to keep believers continually pleading for a righteousness that has already been imputed to attain a victory already won. As a Christian, you stand in Christ's righteousness... not your own. Christ's own divine and unfading nature dwells in you. Every sin you ever did commit, may be committing, or will commit was atoned for. Many don't realize future sins are atoned for. But think about it... all of our sins are 2000 years after the cross, so the blood has to cover future sins. Paul talks about your old man (that old nature you had) being nailed to the cross. Many don't realize that the old nature is dead. They think they are battling the old nature and trying to submit to the spiritual nature. That's incorrect. The old nature was nailed to the cross. Yes, you have a new nature, Christ's divine nature. How do you know? Becayse you feel sorry for sin and failures... that's evidence of the new nature in you. Why? Because the old nature wouldn't care about committing sin. So even your guilty feelings about failure and sin are evidence of Christ’s nature in you. Also, Jesus doesn't want you to be a better Christian or a better person. That’s because even “you” at your best isn't good enough. Never was good enough and never will be. If you stood in the righteousness of being "better" - that would be a self generated righteousness (self righteousness). God wants you to STOP trying to be a better person or a better Christian. Yes, I said it. Here's a secret I've learned... once we STOP trying to be better Christians or better people, we can surrender and allow "self" to die. What we often do is promise God WE will try harder. Well, that's our work and aspiration for self generated righteousness again. What we're doing when we pray and promise God to do better is... dedicating SELF to God. God doesn't like your SELF. In fact, God wants your SELF to die. Why?
Because it's not the Father's sole desire to see you conformed into the image of a "good Christian" or a "better person"... but to be conformed into the very image of Christ. Yes, God wants to make you like Jesus. People often ask, "How is that possible? Only Jesus can be like Jesus." Exactly! You see, if we allow our SELF to die and stop TRYING to be a GOOD Christian or a BETTER person... we surrender and start allowing Jesus to live His life THROUGH us. We cease identifying ourselves as Christians, Baptists, Pentecostals, or whatever, and we begin to identify only with... Jesus. We can then draw so close to Jesus... we feel His heart beating in our chest. His thoughts are impressed upon our minds. We see people and see things as He sees them. We essentially become... vessels of the very person of Jesus. And it makes sense, we're the "body of Christ" right? So now as we experience that "oneness" with Jesus moment by precious moment we become more and more like Him. We wake up looking into the mirror and we see not ourselves... but Jesus. You have to be Jesus today for this lost world. And the only way to do that is to surrender all SELF generated efforts of pleasing God... and just allow Jesus to CONSUME and POSSESS you. Then... all that you do that is righteous isn’t you… is CHRIST IN YOU working righteousness. God doesn't want our service or efforts. He wants us to allow Jesus to live through us. God doesn't need us doing things for Him... He wants Jesus doing things through us. God doesn’t want you to try to save yourself, He wants you to allow Christ to save you. You see, we are crucified with Christ, and yet we live; not us... but Christ who lives in us. When we sin or experience failures... it's not the deed done that is the issue... the problem is that in that specific moment we ceased to "be Jesus". We ceased to allow Him to flow through us. So it's not an "old nature" that we struggle with. The old nature is DEAD and we're new creatures... yet we still "think" like a carnal creature. We have to have our minds renewed. That means knowing the Scriptures to the point where we entirely identify ourselves in Christ... not by our own performance for Christ. So... to be disappointed with self... is to have trusted in self and not Jesus. God doesn't want promises, commitments, rededications, blah, blah, blah. God wants YOU to die and JESUS to live through YOU. Then you are formed moment by moment, and day by day, into the very image of Christ. I heard a story about Martin Luther. A man journeyed many miles to meet the famous Martin Luther. Upon arriving at the home of Martin Luther he knocked on the door. A voice from the other side asked who he was and gave his name and requested to speak to Martin Luther. The voice on the other side of the door said, "I'm afraid Martin Luther doesn't live here anymore, he is deceased." The man was stunned. He then asked, "So who is living here now?" Martin Luther's voice answered from the other side of the door, "Only Christ." While we might not agree with all of Martin Luther's theology, we can say, this is an incredible grasp of what it means to die to self and live in Christ. So brush yourself off, and boldly approach the throne of grace. Realizing that you don't stand righteous or condemned by your performance. Because its not about you anyway. You stand with an imparted righteousness that isn't your own. Surrender all of your efforts to do better and just say, "Jesus, I need you to live your life in me." Then walk with Christ seeing yourself positionally one with Him, His vessel in this world below.
Programs, self-help strategies, regulating your environment, accountibility partners... all of these things are good for "behavior change". But they don't change "you". They don't form you into the image of Christ Jesus. I offer this perspective to add to what you're already doing to beat this. I'd like to offer good news though... it's already beaten.
I love and appreciate you bro. I'm saying a prayer for you as soon as I click this little button. God bless!
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