Stop Sinning- How can I stop sinning?

Stop sinning! What an interesting statement. We all know we have things, behaviours, sins we need to stop. It might be anger, hate, selfishness, greed, lust or jealousy. In order for us to see exactly what we need to STOP, we need to know what SIN is.

What is SIN?

SIN is considered to be a transgression against a divine law. That divine Law is the 10 Commandments found in Exodus 20: 1- 17:

1. I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. (For a deeper study on this please clic here)

Here we find a basic list of actions that are considered to be SINS. Some may argue that this list is not comprehensive. But when we make a deeper study we will see that all hideous actions are addressed here. The 10 Commandment serve as a mirror if you will (James 1: 23) to assess our own lives. Mirrors can only show us our imperfection, they cannot change us. The closer we are to a mirror the better we can see ourselves. The further we are from the mirror the more comfortable we feel about ourselves (explain), but that does not change the fact of our sinful condition.

What does sin do?

In one word it SEPARATES us from everything including life.

1. It separates us from God. Isaiah 59: 2 says: "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." One of the first things SIN does is lead us to deny the existence of God, the Creator. It leads into the fallacy that we are not accountable to anyone.

2. It separates us from other people. Sin destroys relationships. Starting with the most basic human relationship to our earthly parents. Whether it be due to actions they did to us, or because we cannot get along with them, we see an all out destruction of families today. We also have an epidemic of Divorces. It is interesting that people that promised to love each other for ever, end up hating and hurting each other.

3. It separates us from ourselves. In our society we see people with low self-esteem, depression and remorse. Some people, resort to food in order to numb their senses, and then develop emotional disorders such as:Bulimia, Anorexia or Food Addictions and/or Cravings.. Others turn to other substances such as alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and stronger legal and illegal drugs and substances to forget their reality and who they are, while others yet, become addicted to toxic relationships that lead them onto a path of immorality and shameful acts.

Romans 6: 23 says: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The final consequence of SIN is death. Eternal death.

How can I stop sinning?

We need to follow the ABC: Acknowledge, Believe and Confess

Acknowledge: We need to look at the mirror, the Law of God, and see our true condition. We need to acknowledge our need to change our destructive behaviour. We need to see that we cannot come up with the solution on our own.

Believe: Jesus is our only solution. He is the "Gift of God" He came to live on this earth to be able to understand what we go through. With his perfect life is a perfect substitute. He died on our behalf, on your behalf. Why would he do that? Why would anyone give his live for the salvation of others? We may call it Altruism, but it is more than that. God did not give someone to pay the consequence of our actions. He gave Himself. That is is "Amazing Love" But you have to believe in His sacrifice and His love for you.

Confess: You need to open your heart to Him. You need to start a deep relationship with Him as a friend. Tell Him all of your challenges, all of your fears, all of your questions. This confession is personal but it will take you into a transforming experience that will give you an amazing peace.

We make choices and choices make or define us. We are the people we are today due to the choices we all made once upon a time. The version of ourselves we become tomorrow will depend on the choices we make today. We will be tomorrow’s people based on Today’s Choices. Today you have an incredible opportunity to make the most important decision of your life. Would you follow the ABCs today?