how do you stay away from sin?

[lea86111]

many o' times i've said i was gonna give up many things just to give in to temptation later on. I find it super hard and i guess on one side i wanna be able to do whatever i want to do and on the other side i feel bad and would like to live in a more godly way...can people who struggle with the same thing help? I find it sooo hard and all my friends are "christians" but do them, if you know what i mean so it's hard...also i don't see myself hanging with people who are super christian (sorry i'm just tryina be honest). Is there like some steps i can take to become a better christian? Like something i can do daily for a year (kinda like daily bible verses to read the whole bible in a year but instead of verses, steps to do daily to get closer to god)

 

[LifeafterLHCF]

Those that are much better will answer hopefully but I will say you must look at what has a hold of you.Get to the root of the issue.I will be transparent.I have an issue with sexual impurity with self.I have had to dig as to why I desire to do this as I know full well of the disrespect to my temple.I have figured out its due to my past sexual assault and not wanting to give power to a man.I also have a bad mouth both speaking negatively and cursing like a sailor.I have also had to dig deep and notice I have pent up anger issues since that how people in my family deal with bad things and because how I was raised being a child abuse survivor I still have those scars of horrible self talk.When your always being told you ain't ish,you will never be successful,your ugly etc its hard to move away from those things.

I hope I didn't give too much info and scare you.Also I would say start getting into that bible.Here in the last week I have been getting to appointments early so I can read the bible and my old sermon notes.I dont go to church really anymore and never could part from my sermon notes.I don't like either pastor but again I couldn't let them go bc Im no fool.Even in my darkest times I know God's word says about me.Might be the only reason why my suicide attempts failed so badly.Also possible having some who will hold you accountable and be honestly yet loving will be helpful.I wish I had someone but I have trust issues.I hope you will continue to allow God to come in and show you you.

 

[lea86111]

GoddessMaker sorry you had to go through what you did...and no you didn't share too much

 

[Guitarhero]

Sometimes you just have to look at Him in heaven and do what He wants you to do. You have to make the conscious decision to just do it. we fail, but then get back up again. I try to imagine what He looks like when I'm being a fool. It's all a long journey.

 

[blazingthru]

Sin is the transgression of the law, that is basically what I think of when I think about sin and sin in my life. Its breaking Gods law. For me I struggle with many things. evil thoughts, bad attitude, all these things I lay at the feet of Jesus.
I confess the desires. I have good and bad. I am very open about it and I talk to God as if he was my closes friend sitting next to me. I tell him I don't want to sin against him. Please help me and I do things to avoid getting myself back into that life of sin. I don't watch shows that have cursing and violence because then those words stick with me. over and over again in my mind and i hate that so I avoid all situations where I have to hear someone with a fithy mouth. I don't listen to modern music, I prefer Christian music. Its a preference now. All of my friends are of the same belief as me, not on purpose its just the way it has turned out. When I am truly struggling I ask them to pray for me, what I love about my church there are spots everywhere, where a group will stop and just pray and I feel so blessed to be able to see and view this where we are talking one minute and the next minute we give it the Lord. I don't struggle as much as I use to. I even forget what some of my old sins were. I read when I get up in the morning. I am trying to keep that schedule sometimes I don't sometimes I just pray. I pray all the way to work and in work and on the way home and I make time to read every evening. Drawing myself closer to God helps me to avoid sin and its practices. its the practices of sin that gets us in trouble. God gives you the victory over sin, there are some you will have to continue to pray about and avoid as much as possible espeically if that sin is the sin that keeps you on your knees. Think about it this way. If God removed it would you still be on your knees every night. So this I understand. So instead of God humbling me. I work on humbling myself. This walk is not easy all the time, The world pulls at us. I am not interested in the world and its desires but there are somethings I could easily get caught up in and so I make sure I avoid it and everything concerning it. I channel that energy towards doing for someone else.

 

[Poohbear]

Check out these sites:

Absolute Holiness Truth About Sin Righteousness and Sanctification

How to Stop Falling Into Sin

A Call to Holiness

http://www.drurywriting.com/keith/sin.htm

http://worldinvisible.com/avlib/transcripts/stopsinning.htm

I have came across more sites that speak against sin, but don't have all the web addresses at the moment. What I do is a google search on "holiness" or "how to stop sinning" or "sin free/ sinless" or "living a holy life" etc.

Oh, and check out the videos on HolySpiritDwells' channel on http://www.youtube.com

Hope that helps.

 

[Godyssey]

Don't want to be offensive in here. I was raised Christian/Catholic and I respect the beliefs of others but I don't avoid sin. Not helpful, I'm sure, but there are things that I won't do because of my moral compass and perhaps the way I was raised.

I suppose when you say "sin" you are referring to the 10 commandments.

1. You shall not put any other God before me.
I get from this that it's okay to have other God's, but HE must be put first. Does not apply to me because I'm agnostic.

2. You shall not make a graven image.
Hmmm... this one takes me back to #1, as I do put people that I admire on pedestals. However, they always dissapoint in the end. So, blah to graven images!

3. You shall not take God's name in vain.
I type OMG, quite often. Not sure if that's bad? But again, I'm agnostic.

4. You shall not break the Sabbath.
To me, everyday is the Sabbath. I try to be in the moment everyday and appreciative everyday. Not just Sunday's (or Saturdays, depending on what you believe).

5. You shall not dishonor your parents.
I'm good with this.

6. You shall not murder.
I've commited murder although, I'm on the fence with this. Buddhists believe that ALL of God's creatures are sacred and none should be harmed. Sometimes I kill insects but I really try not to opting to set them free instead. Also, I eat meat. The thought of eating meat disgusts me, but since it's so cleverly packaged at the grocery store, sometimes it's easy not to make the connection that you are eating a murdered animal. When I do think of it, it makes me sick. I'm not a heavy meat eater yet not disgusted enough to be detered.

7. You shall not commit adultery
I'm good with this. Never have, never will.

8. You shall not steal.
Also on the fence. When I get extra change from a large corporation and fail to give it back, that is stealing. I justify it by thinking of all of the things that corporations do to steal from the little folk and get around laws. It doesn't bother me, but the fact that it's stealing all the same does.

9. You shall not bear false witness.
I don't consider myself a liar and dislike those who are. However, I must admit to telling white lies. I hate to hurt anyones feelings. Anything more than that bothers me to the point where if I lie (which I'm horrible at) I have to fess up. I'm abhorred by lying and being lied to.

10. You shall not covet.
I covet. Not really sure what this means though. I "covet" things, but never where I'm begrudging anyone else. If I covet something, I don't want to take something away from anyone else. I focus on getting my own. So, I'm not sure wether that's right or wrong.

However, It doesn't matter what I think. I was just sizing up my morals, to what people refer to as sins. Again, sorry for crashing, but you all happen to have some interesting topics in here, lol!

Although, I will share this last tidbit. When I was a tiny child, I once asked my mother after she scolded me for doing something wrong (don't remember what). I asked "how do I know if what I'm doing is wrong?". She told me, if I have a feeling in my heart that it's wrong then it most likely is. That's always stuck with me. What she was referring to was my conscience. And I'm the type of person to really beat myself up because of guilt. So instead of having to deal with feelings of regret, I try to stay away from things that will negatively affect my conscience as best as I know how.