Another line from an old song, “I love my life, but I hate my taste.”
Sin, when it is known to be against a holy and righteous God, is oppressing, is bringing shame and hatred of ourselves, it causes us to look despondently after the moment, but is enticing before the act is committed.
Many people who are indeed born again live their lives in this endless cycle, repenting truly, turning 180 degrees from that known sin only to find a similar one calling to them later.
“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (2nd Cor. 2:11)
“Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38)
The Almighty will not look upon sin, thereby we know a broken fellowship with Him when we live in unrepented of sin, our prayers go unheard, our path becomes unclear, and all that we attempt to do for His glory avails nothing.
We become as errant children attempting to please our Father while covered in filth in His house.
Satan is not unaware of this, if you are growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, useful to the purposes of the Almighty, as much as any can be to the Sovereign Lord of all creation, that temptation from the past will avail him little to cause you to fall, a new one must be brought into play, and my friends, these temptations are all common to man, he does not need to know you personally to formulate the next one to attempt to pull you into the trap. And as our opening line states in this poorly written letter, we love, at least our flesh does, that moment of enticing sin, yet we hate the taste of it.
If you do not know yourself, you are easy prey, if you do not search within yourself, looking intently and truthfully at what it is that your flesh desires then you will do no more than continuously try to deny these lusts and desires against the Living God, you will attempt to hide the truth from yourself, and you will continue to fall into those traps on a regular basis.
Feelings of shame my friends is not repentance, shame offers excuses.
“And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” (Gen. 3:12)
There is rebellion against the will of God in each of us, we were born with it, and only the born again can recognize it, the Holy Spirit convicts us of these truths, but does that conviction cause repentance in you, or only shame and disgust, does the knowledge of sin cause hatred within you of yourself, or does it only make you feel bad?
You have to be willing to look inside of yourself and admit to yourself that there are desires you have that are not pleasing to the Lord, your mind must examine your flesh, seeing within it complete and total disgust there. The world cannot understand that sentence, life is to be enjoyed, the consequences, if there are any, will come later, and if there is a God in heaven, He forgives, for He is love.
Your flesh, my flesh, does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, it hates Him because He will not allow it to do whatever it wants, the flesh, our sinful desires, hates Him because He wants our minds to repress and deny that which is pleasing to it.
“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24)
Jesus Christ has and will continue to deliver you, but you must face yourself, you must know and understand your flesh, you will be glorified one day, that part of us will be removed, but until then you must know your greatest adversary, and it is you.
