Alive in Christ (Part 2)

READ: ROMANS 6:1-23; 8:1, 11

There’s nothing worse than feeling stuck in an endless cycle of sin. These sin cycles steal our life, slowly consuming us until we don’t even recognize ourselves.

Pornography is a sin that is very difficult to give up, feeding the cycle of frustration and self-hatred. Thankfully, there is one who can break that cycle.

Jesus helps you break the power of pornography, or any sin in your life, in a few ways. First, He offers forgiveness to those who know Him. Because Jesus lived a perfect life—then took our sins upon Himself when He died on the cross—He removed God’s righteous wrath from us and gave us His righteousness before God. In other words, when God looks at us, He doesn’t see our sin. He sees Jesus’s perfection.

How does that help break our sinful patterns? By killing our self-hatred. Yes, it is right to mourn sin, and it’s okay to be frustrated with yourself and to bring those frustrations to God. But that doesn’t mean that you have to live there. Jesus came to bring an end to that mourning (2 Corinthians 7:10). By recognizing that Jesus has forgiven us and thanking Him for His incredible grace, we stop dwelling on our own sins and start to meditate on God’s goodness.

Second, God also gives us help through Jesus’s resurrection. God’s power raised Jesus from the dead, and that same power lives in you if you know Jesus. God’s power, through the Holy Spirit, is the only way to defeat sin. You can always ask God to remind you that His Spirit lives in you and can defeat sin for you. You can also find hope knowing that, because of Jesus’s resurrection, you will one day be resurrected from the dead, free of sin and brokenness forever.

Lastly, Jesus gives us community. Find a trusted Christian you can confess your sin struggles to, and ask them to keep you accountable. After all, breaking the power of pornography is often a group effort. Ask them to remind you of Jesus’s forgiveness and His power that lives in you. God is stronger than any sin, and He can bring healing. • Taylor Eising

• What sin cycles do you struggle with? Who can you talk to about it? How does Jesus help you break it? (If no one comes to mind, you can ask God to help you identify someone in the future.)

• How could you help your friends when they are stuck in a sin cycle?

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Romans 8:11 (NLT)