Unshackled From My Sin For Good
Written by Andrianus Fredy Wijaya, originally in Bahasa Indonesia
Sin.
This three-letter word dominated my life. Although I called myself a Christian, I committed the same sins over and over again: watching pornographic movies, smoking, and drinking strong liquor. Every time I finished doing any one of these, guilt would overcome me and lead me to confess my sins to God. Yet, despite knowing that these sinful habits did not please God, I kept doing them. It was as if they were shackled to my life. They drove me to frustration, and many times I wondered, “Is it possible that my sins can be forgiven?”
I tried many ways to get rid of my bad habits. Once, I went through therapy to help me stop smoking. However, not only did I not stop, but I was even introduced to new friends who made my smoking habit worse. Watching pornographic films was also something that was heavily entrenched in my life. In fact, I sold pornographic films when I was in secondary school. Just imagine, a Christian being known as a porn seller! I asked many pastors to pray for me, but my life didn’t change. Instead, it got worse. I felt powerless. I felt ashamed of my life. I felt unworthy of being a child of God. I was certain that I was not saved.
Through the grace of God, however, when I was in university, I met a friend who loved God. He reminded me of the time I was baptized in high school, the moment I confessed my sins to God and accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. He reminded me of the Bible verse that says: “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Like a homeless child adopted by a rich family, I was a sinner who had been raised by God to become His son. Of course, that homeless child wouldn’t immediately be able to become like his new, respectable family. But he now had an opportunity to change, and he now had parents who would be there to guide him. Similarly, forgiveness and a new status in Christ wouldn’t automatically turn me into a perfect person, but I now had the power to refuse sin, because my Father had given me an opportunity and the strength to live out a new life. I was no longer hopelessly shackled and powerless.
“But I’ve already committed so many sins, what do I have to do?” I asked my friend, still full of doubts.
“The Lord is faithful and just,” he replied with a smile. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness,” he continued, quoting 1 John 1:9.
What a wonderful, comforting guarantee from God Himself! God does not turn away His children who make mistakes. When we fall down, what we have to do is to quickly get up and return to Him, to confess and stay away from sin, and to give ourselves over to be renewed by Him.
I felt so much freedom hearing those words! God had given me the freedom to keep living for Him—not the freedom to sin. I had a newfound reason to not sin again.
I am being renewed every day now. I am no longer burdened by guilt from my past, or feelings of powerlessness about my bad habits. I believe that God Himself guarantees my life and will keep giving me the strength to do things that please Him.
SIN! I am trying to understand generational curses and withcraft in which I feel my body is attracted to sexual sex. Something happened somewhere in my life that causes this struggle. Is “Beauty” really a sin?
Hi Ginger,
Thanks for sharing your comments. Could you elaborate a little more what you mean by beauty? Are you referring to physical beauty or beauty in general?
Hello Ginger!
Beauty is not a sin!
A wonderful example of God using a beautiful woman is the Book of Esther. Queen Vashti disrespected King Ahasuerus and the Queen lost her throne because of her actions. A beauty contest was held to find a replacement for the King. Beautiful women were brought from all over the kingdom to interview for the position of Queen. The Scripture records that Esther was “…beautiful of form and face…” Esther 2:7 In verse 17 of the same chapter it is recorded “And the king loved Esther more than all the women and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.”
Queen Esther went on to be greatly used of God. She is credited with the quote, “If I perish, I perish”. Esther 4:16. An evil edict had been issued to kill all the Jews in the kingdom. Queen Esther was a Jew, and she arranged, through subterfuge, an arrangement that the Jews could defend themselves throughout the kingdom on the day they were to be annihilated. Esther Chapters 7,8 & 9.
This woman, found by a beauty contest, was the instrument by which the Jewish people survived annihilation. It was not her beauty that saved the Jews. It was the character of Esther: her courage, her love for her people, her submissive attitude to her caretaker Uncle Mordecai, and her love for God, that saved the Jews.
Beauty in and of itself is not bad. However, you must not attend any Wicca meetings. Satanism relies heavily on worshiping the ‘created rather than the creator.’ Romans 1:25 “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-foot animals and crawling creatures.” Romans 1: 22-23
Satan essentially worshiped himself and not God. His followers also do the same thing, they worship the body and its sensations. That is the reason sensuality is so prevalent in many satanic worships.
Stay away, my dear Sister. God has much more for you! “Surely there is a future and your hope will not be cut off.” Proverbs 23:18 “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11.
The God, our creator, gave us His Son, Christ Jesus to take away our sins, “But God demonstrates His won love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5: 8
Look to Jesus, my dear sister, and associate with others of like mind.
It seems there is some responsibility on us, however. Romans 13: 12-14 “…But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” This applies to all mankind, not just men. We shouldn’t set ourselves up to sin. We should not fill our minds with sinful thoughts…”As a man thinks, so is he…”
Romans 12: 2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of you mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” This is the key to the struggle. For myself, if I can keep my mind clean, it is much easier to manage the body than if I set myself up for sin by doing and looking at things I KNOW I SHOULDN’T.
I don’t know of to many truly recovering alcoholics who go into a bar, buy a bottle of their favorite poison, sit down at a table, and then stare at that bottle to see how long they can resist taking a drink! It just doesn’t happen! A true recovering alcoholic will stay as far away from tempting situations as he/she can. In addition, they will associate with people of like mind to stay clear of their sinful ways.
This is an illustration with many parallels to we Christians. We are to ‘flee youthful lusts’ and transform our minds so we can get God’s view on everything and that view will allow us to be pure in heart and free from besetting sins.
But WE have responsibilities in this process. The, “Please God, take it all away!” mentality puts all the responsibility on God for what WE do or FAIL to do.
As I see it, men have the responsibility to stay away from tempting situations. Women have the responsibility of modesty. What do men look at? Women. What is the woman’s responsibility in the situation? Bathsheba took down a king, her husband and a great number of innocent men who were with her righteous husband when he was killed. How about the young girl and her mother who encouraged the younger woman to dance provocatively before the king and request the head of John the Baptist? Another man killed! I had a friend who cheated on his wife, then had a conscience about his behavior. He went over to his girlfriend’s home to break the relationship off. Who was there? Girlfriend’s boyfriend. My friend was murdered by this boyfriend. The result? On man dead, another man in jail for murder, and the adulterous two-timing woman who influenced the entire situation got off scott free! What will she face on Judgment Day? What is the responsibility of the millions of women who are immodest (an understatement) in pornography? How will God judge them as these women misuse the femininity that God gave to them to destroy men, and to feed their own narcissism?
All that being said, a man is still responsible for where he walks and what he does with his life and his body. I can’t live someone else’s life. I can only live my own and seek the ‘things above’.
Hi Ed. Thanks for sharing this