Please enjoy this excerpt from Manage Your Mission – Living wisely and abundantly for today and eternity.  This book will help craft your life mission, establish its priorities, and succeed in each area: Faith – Family – Fitness – Field – Friends – Fun – Finances. 

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Let’s just say that fame was like a drug. But what was even more like a drug was the drugs. Homer Simpson

When people achieve fame, it indeed works like a drug.  They need more and more to get the same high, but the crashes get bigger.  Worse yet, they can’t enjoy their fame because, after the initial high, the emotions shift to fear of losing fame.  Our desire for recognition can come in many forms and are often self-destructive.  Whether it is the traditional kind of worldwide fame or just the craving for affirmation on social media, these will ultimately not give us lasting fulfillment.  Only what we do in and through Christ will last. Therefore, we are generally better off not being famous.  But if you do become famous, use it to advance the Kingdom. 

While most will never struggle with fame, we will all have at least one besetting sin, something we wrestle with regularly and over which we have trouble obtaining victory.  The book of Hebrews lists a “Hall of Faith” with the accomplishments of many devoted believers throughout the Bible, then says:

Hebrews 12:1–2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The “sin which clings so closely” portion was translated as “the sin which doth so easily beset us” in the King James Version.  We are to lay those aside and look to Jesus.

Those same great believers all wrestled with deep sins as well.  So, whether your biggest challenge is fame, lust, coveting, greed, pride, substance abuse, or something else, you want to identify and fight it.  I sometimes call it the “drug of choice,” which means the sin that is your default because you are so accustomed to using it to find a temporary high. If/when you stumble and sin, be gracious and remind yourself of the gospel.  But keep fighting!  Yes, you may have had a trauma that led you to indulge in sin, but don’t lie to yourself and deny that you are sinning. 

God’s grace covers all the sins of those who repent and believe – past, present, and future.  So, if you explain grace properly, people may often go too far with it and respond as some did to the Apostle Paul, prompting his reply: Romans 6:1–2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”  But it is good that you’ve described grace accurately enough that people realize its enormity.  Of course, we don’t want to sin deliberately, but we can’t deny the truth that, in this life, the fight against sin never ends. 

There is a saying that Christians are already saved from the penalty of sin, we are being saved from the practice and power of sin, and ultimately we will be saved from the presence of sin in Heaven.  For those who like alliteration, that’s three Ps: penalty, practice, and presence.  If you are a non-Christian, you still need to repent and believe to be saved from the penalty of sin.  Believers are in the stage of being saved from the practice and power of sin.  The Bible is clear that we will still sin at times but must fight it. 

Be watchful over how the world changes in its views of sin. For example, when the Bible says not to steal, I shouldn’t possess something that doesn’t belong to me.  But if you recall the days of Napster, the file-sharing software application that let people “share” music files, you’ll remember that people went on a vast stealing binge.  I knew Christians who thought nothing of it, even using lame rationalizations about how the record companies could afford it.  But just because the software made it easy to steal or the victim was wealthy, it didn’t change the immorality of stealing. 

If you gain temporary victory over sin, don’t get complacent.  You will never kill all sin and temptation in this life.  But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.  If you are a believer, then by the grace of God, you have been given the power over sin.  Use it.  And remember this warning and blessing, and beware of the cycle where you overcome sin for a time and then get complacent:

1 Corinthians 10:12–14 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

Some people are tempted more by gambling, sex, drugs, alcohol, pornography, etc., than others.  That is why it is dangerous to experiment with them.  Consider this about Eric Clapton, who has fought addictions most of his life: “Clapton first got drunk at 16 and woke alone in the woods, with fouled trousers, vomit on his shirt and no money. As a good drunk Clapton states that he could not wait to do it all again.”  You’d think he might reconsider what he’d done after waking up like that.  It is chilling to think he immediately wanted to do it again.  So, be very careful about what you try.

Addictions can take many forms.  Even seemingly benign things like excessive time spent on Netflix, social media, video games, etc., can be a problem to relationships and your sanctification.  Many people spend a staggering 6–8 hours daily on their phones. 

The holiness of God should keep us humble.  And as the Bible notes in several places, such as 1 Peter 5:5, which says, “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” Pride is at the root of other sins because, in our pride, we think we can create our own God and subject him to our morality, we can use his name in vain or be unloving to others because we believe we are more important, and so on.  Humility drives us in the opposite direction.  And with humility, it is easier to forgive and ask forgiveness.

Copyright 2022

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible