The Reality Is

Six Biblical Ways To Break Habitual Sin

• Crossroads Community Church • Season 3 • Episode 28

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Touch a candle once and you learn fast. Keep reaching for it anyway and you learn something deeper about yourself. That’s where Pastor Joey and Pastor Richard start: the strange pull of sin, the way we argue with warnings, and the moment consequences finally make the danger feel real. If you’ve ever thought, “I know this is wrong, so why do I keep choosing it?”, you’re not alone and you’re not stuck.

We ground the conversation in Romans 6 and the tension every Christian feels between God’s grace and daily obedience. Grace is a rescue, not a permission slip, and Paul’s command “do not let sin reign” means real change is possible. We talk about strongholds and “pet sins” that grow when we nurture them, why “the devil made me do it” and “I was born this way” become excuses, and how temptation often hooks us through our own desires. Sin may be “fun for a season,” but the payday is real and it always costs more than it promised.

Then we get concrete with six anchors for overcoming temptation and breaking habitual sin: don’t go back to prison, don’t give in to sinful passions, don’t fight for the enemy, embrace God’s authority, remember your story, and serve the King. Along the way we unpack what it means to starve the flesh and feed the Spirit, change what you consume, build practical boundaries, and live like someone who’s actually been set free by Jesus.

If this helped you, subscribe to the show, share it with a friend who’s battling a stronghold, and leave a review so more people can find Real Life and Real Faith. What’s the one area you’re ready to stop feeding today?

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The Candle And The Burn

SPEAKER_00

There is something about fire. Okay. You light a candle, you have a two-year-old, three-year-old in the room, and for whatever reason, they're going to see how close they can get to that. Absolutely. And they're going to keep pushing that hand closer and closer. And no matter how many times you say stop, um, it's when they get burnt that they realize I don't need to touch that. Right? And so God is telling us, look, that's hot. Don't. But we do it anyway.

SPEAKER_02

The reality. When the real life meets real faith. The reality. When the real life meets real faith.

Why Sin Keeps Pulling Us Back

SPEAKER_01

Welcome to the reality is podcast, where we're here today to talk about real life and real faith. My name is Joey. I'm here with Richard, and man, it's been a couple of weeks since you've been here and missed you for the past two weeks. But I'm thankful Ed Gravely at the last minute said, Yeah, man, I could I can join you and we can talk about whatever you want to talk about. And so it went really, really good. But I'm so thankful to have you back. And last time you were here, we were talking about vengeance and vengeance being mine and what that looks like, right? But in that talk and going back and watching that podcast and looking at it, I realized, man, that's just vengeance is something that's just very sinful in our life. And we are like, we're just sinners. Like we were just talking about earlier. We're all sinners. Some are better than others, but we are all did they notice the hand moving? I noticed some are better than others. But but today, you said you wanted to talk about sin and and how to fight against sin. So I'm really looking forward to how you can help us through our sinful thoughts, our sinful actions, and all those things. But before we even get into that, would you guys do us a favor? Would you like, subscribe, share this with a friend, and ring the bell. That way you'll never miss another episode of the Reality Is Podcast. But right now, I'm gonna turn it over to you and just kind of set up how, because sin, like I'm I'm thinking about the topic that you you want to talk about. And I go, that's just every day, all day. Right, right. And a lot of people think, but but you're pastors, you guys go around sinning all day. Well, in my mind, there's a lot of things going on. So so how do we fight that?

SPEAKER_00

Right. Well, you know, we've spent like five or six weeks talking about the all the different emotions that actually are sinned, like you say, vengeance, greed, uh, you know, anger, yeah, and the different things. And so, how do we fight against that? That's been the big question, right? Okay, so I I have these things in my life. Yes, okay. And uh, as you said, some of us are better than others. And and so uh knowing that, how do we fight against it? Because it's one thing to know it's there, it's another thing to say, okay, how do I eradicate it? Right.

Grace Is Not A License

SPEAKER_00

And so the apostle Paul tells us in in Romans chapter six, he begins with, Okay, so I've got grace in my life, God has redeemed me, so is that a license to sin? And he answers that very clearly. He said, Absolutely not. And then he makes this statement how can those of us who are dead to sin live in it any longer? Yeah, right. And so the the issue comes back to Joey, if you're sinning and okay with it, you you need to check your salvation. And that's very clear in scripture. Yeah. All right. So so you you know that there is sin. We all battle with sin, right? But there's habitual sin. There's that I I'm in it, I'm happy in it, and don't mess with me in it. Well, according to scripture, you you need to check to see if you've ever given your life to the Lord to start with.

SPEAKER_01

So this isn't one of those podcasts where you're just gonna say, Stop sinning and and and we're done.

SPEAKER_00

Because we I I actually said that and I thought, well, that's not gonna take long. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You know, but but again, like we look at that and we go, how how is that possible? Yeah, I've heard people out there use that same argument that you just said, yeah, but you know, because I'm sinning, that just shows how graceful God is. And and we live in, and and you've heard this probably theological term, we're in the dispensation of grace right now. And we're in that life. So, so we get to no, we don't get to do anything because God still doesn't like the sin. God has made a way because of it, but that doesn't mean God accepts it.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Well, and and the thing we're looking at is Paul comes out in Romans chapter six, and and again, he's setting that stage. He gets to verse 12, and he says, Do not let sin reign or have control in your body. Yeah, right now, if he said not to let it happen, guess what? That means we're able to not let it happen. Yeah. Okay. And so when we start thinking about this, we we say, okay, what are some ways we can fight against it? Honestly, I was I was reading uh uh an article, a book, and and in that they began to talk about this very topic. And I thought, you know, that that's people need to know this, and uh they need to begin to think about applying this.

Name Your Stronghold

SPEAKER_00

And so what I won't would like for people to do that are listening to us today is go ahead and think about that sin right now that you are in mortal combat with. Now, I say that literally because you know, yes, we all sin, okay? We all have that moment of anger or that that moment of lust or that moment of frustration, but we all have that area of our life that is the stronghold that Satan has dug into our life, and it is a battle.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and before uh in one of the podcasts, you called that a pet sin. Exactly that we like to just kind of sit there and cuddle with and and we we feed it, we we we actually nurture that sin. That's the one you're talking about.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. And the the one that'll grow up to consume you. And then I was supposed to say and then turn around and kiss. Right. And and so I want you to think about that now. And and and uh then I want you to to begin to think about that area that you're fighting in, and then let's cover six areas that I believe are essential to going back to this,

Don’t Go Back To Prison

SPEAKER_00

you know. And and the first thing that you have to think about is don't go back to prison. Yeah, you know, just don't go back to prison. Uh you you're allowing yourself to be under the control of that, all right? And Romans 6.12, do not let sin rain or otherwise have control of your body. Yeah, so when you think about, okay, God has freed me from that, all right. Bearing in mind when you became a believer, 2 Corinthians 5 17, you became a new creation in Christ. Old things passed away.

SPEAKER_01

Behold, all things are new.

SPEAKER_00

So, what does that mean? It means we've had to invite those things back into our life.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And there's also a scripture that says, where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Right. And that's the power that dwells inside of us. Like we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside for those of us who have accepted Christ as our Savior. The Spirit lives in us. And I was just going through a study in John that when Jesus says, Hey, this is a better thing, it's better that I go so that you can have the spirit. And so we hear that when we go, Oh, it's it's a good thing. I've got this spirit with me. Yeah, and where the spirit of the Lord is, which is inside of you, there's freedom. And so we had been freed from prison, as you say. Okay, we've been freed from the prison, but we like want to go back to prison and say, Yeah, but but but but I like that. Yeah, and and that you know, it feels so good to do those things, and I and I want that. And and the Bible is saying, look, don't don't do it. Don't go back to prison.

SPEAKER_00

You've been freed right from that. And and you know, we we argue it, it feels so good. And and you've heard me say this, you know what, if if you're gonna argue sin's not fun, you're doing it wrong. Okay, absolutely. I mean, it's it's just that simple, right? I always get amazed when I hear people try to talk to young young people, especially, and they go, Oh, you don't want to do that. Uh sin's not fun. And I'm like, man, you need to follow me around a little while because it, you know. But but what we need people to understand is yes, sin has its pleasure for a season. Yeah, it's just for a moment. But there's a payday behind that sin. And that's not fun. Yeah. And, you know, there are consequences. Well, we always go around saying your choices have consequences. Exactly. And so the Bible's very clear that whatever I sow, that I will reap. Okay. So when I think about that, and I think about that, all I'm doing is sowing into the flesh, then I'm going to reap that, right? And and I'm literally putting myself back in prison, putting myself under the bondage of something.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And and the way you're saying it, you're willfully doing that to yourself. It's not something that anybody is doing to you. Right. The the enemy's not grabbing you and saying, Come back to prison with me, you know, and God's not saying, Hey, stay, stay, stay out of prison. You are saying this is something I like to do, so I just want to go back to it. Am I hearing that wrong?

SPEAKER_00

No, that's that's it. You know, this this is it literally is is we we think we're getting away with something. And and and honestly, we think we think it's it's worth it at the time, right? You you wouldn't do it if you didn't think it was worth it at the time.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

But when the consequences come, and and that's when we're at. In Proverbs 5 and verse 22, it says his own iniquities entrap the wicked man. It's not someone else's fault, it's his own. Yeah, he is caught in the cords of his sin. Yeah, right. And so it it is important for us to realize that you're going back to prison by your choice. Nobody's putting you there, nobody's making you go there. Yeah, and you're binding yourself. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And my wife and I were just talking this morning about right and wrong and how you know, like you know what's right, and you know what's wrong. Like somebody doesn't have to tell you, oh, well, you know what you did was was wrong. Right. Because you already know that. And and what you're talking about, this little sin, this pet sin, when you know it's wrong, you're also trying to hide that from other people. Like you don't want people like you're not going down the street saying, Hey, look at me, I'm doing this. You're not coming to the pastor's office boasting about, look at me, I'm doing this. Right. Because you know it's wrong. And then really, what what happens is somebody after they know what they have done is wrong and they have faced the consequence, that's when they're coming to the pastor's office repenting and saying, I'm sorry, I did this. But you knew you were wrong before you even exactly.

SPEAKER_00

You know, we we make the argument, Joey, that it's inevitable. It it I can't stop it. And and of course, in today's world, I was born this way. Yeah. Well, we're all born sinners. Okay. And so, regardless of what that sin may be, regardless of of where it is, whether it's a a sexual sin, whether it's a sin of integrity, it doesn't matter. We're all born sinners. And so to say I was born this way is not an excuse to live opposite of what God says in his word. And so when we look at this, I'm saying that sin has lost all authority over me. That's exactly what the scripture says. Yeah, exactly. All right, when when I know that, I willfully choose to put myself back in prison. And and that's the first thing. You just have to say, I'm not going back.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

You know, when I was in law enforcement and uh, you know, I I would see guys go to prison, and and they would always say, without exception, you know, well, I'm when I get out, I'm never going back. And and I would say, Well, I'll see you in 18 months, right? Because they they they would have a year and a half or whatever, and then in 18 months, guess what? I'd see a lot of them again.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And and because they it's just that revolving door that we put ourselves in.

SPEAKER_01

And and that's where I go back to that first statement. I say, stop it.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Just stop it. And and it sounds easy. But but it is, but okay, so yeah, there are some that do the revolving door, but guess what? There are some that go in and they go, I'm never going back. And guess what? They get it right, man. They don't go back. Now, I know that's a secular illustration to the reality of the spiritual truth, but God has freed us from that prison and he has said, you don't have to go back. Yeah. And so we have to sense that and see how important that is. So, so how do we not go back to prison? Right? Okay.

Don’t Feed The Passion

SPEAKER_00

Well, Paul answers it for us. He said, Don't give in to the passion, right? And there's where you're don't do it. Yeah. Okay. Romans 6 12, therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body. And listen, that you should obey its lust. Okay. Don't do it. Right? I don't know how complicated that has to be.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's really no complication to it at all. Stop doing it, especially when you know it's wrong and you know you're not supposed to do it. Look, we've we've all had major sins in our lives. There's a time where I'm going through something in my life and literally had somebody just step up in my face and say, Stop it! Right. Just stop doing that. And guess what happens? When you make the willful decision to stop doing the thing that you know is wrong that's leading you to this path of destruction, because you do have a choice to stop, because you have the power of the Holy Spirit in you, you pray, you make what we call you you call them building walls, I call them hedge edges, but it's the same thing. You start putting things in place to help you stop it.

SPEAKER_00

You know, you when you think about that, okay. You know, I I can't help but think about there is something about fire.

SPEAKER_03

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Um you you light a candle, you have a two-year-old, three-year-old in the room, and for whatever reason, they're gonna see how close they can get to that. Yeah, absolutely. And they're gonna keep pushing that hand closer and closer, and no matter how many times you say stop, it's when they get burnt that they realize I don't need to touch that. Right? And and so God is telling us, look, that's hot. Don't. But we do it anyway. And the truth of the matter is, is we sin because we want to. Okay? It's not fact right there. Yeah. The devil didn't make me do it. Yep. You know, someone else didn't make me do it. We always like to say, they made me so angry. No, they didn't. You chose to be angry. Yeah, you allowed me angry. And and so listen, James 1.14 says, but each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Yeah. All right. You choose to do it.

SPEAKER_01

True statement.

SPEAKER_00

And so when we stop and we think about what it looks like, we give into, we sell out to whatever the passion is that we're pursuing, and we sell out to that without honestly stopping and saying, okay, this is gonna be fun for a season. Wouldn't do it if it wasn't gonna be fun for a season. Exactly. The problem is there's going to be a payday behind that. Yes, there is.

SPEAKER_01

And are you you don't want you don't want the payday. No. You really don't want the payday. Because it here's the thing. We know the enemy wants to kill, steal, and destroy our lives. Like so, everything he does that makes it look beautiful and he makes it look exciting, he makes it look fun. All you're doing is setting yourself up for a path of destruction. And when you do have that payday, you realize how broken and how torn down. And and and look, I've I've done this I don't know how many times. I look back and go, man, if I would have only, man, if I didn't, you know, I know you don't face those type of things, but but if I if I would have, what do you say? You're always one bad decision away from saying that I would never do what I wanted to do, or however you put it. But but that's just it. Like how many times we look back and go, man, I I I actually chose the wrong path in this one. And and I've watched the consequences happen. And now I've got to back up and come back and get on the right path.

SPEAKER_00

You know, we we see this dynamic at play in in original sin. All right. So we go back to Genesis. All right. Now, what what in the world happened there, right? All right, so when you read in Genesis 3, 6, they first saw that it was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eye, and that it would make them a God in their minds, right? Yes. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life, as the apostle John calls it. All right. It was a choice. Now they knew, don't do it. Yeah. I mean, God was real clear. Specifically totally. And here's the amazing thing: they had a whole garden. Whole garden. That was perfect and beautiful. Exactly. And and one, they were totally alone. Yeah. And and which one could they not resist? Right. And and so when we really stop and understand that, Joey, we we need to understand that we're going to return to our passions if we don't keep God between us and that passion. Yeah. And that's the only path. There is no other path.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And it it's crazy because I've I've even tried this experiment where somebody says, Don't do this, and now that's the first thing you want to do. What is that? It's just like, I know I'm not supposed to do it, but now, but now I want to, now I have to.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You know.

SPEAKER_00

It's crazy. It well, you know, you you tell me not to do it, and you can be absolutely certain I'm gonna be fine in a way to get it. Because I figure you don't want me to have fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Uh right. Or the other one I know I know for you is like, you can't do that. Well, watch me. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I got scars to show that one. Yeah, me too, watching you do things at my place. You got a tore-up barn. Oh, barn. Watch me, I can do this. Okay, good. Moving on.

SPEAKER_00

Tree should have fell the other way. You know, listen, Psalm 119. Uh, blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his testimony, who seek him in their whole heart. Those also do know iniquity, they walk in his ways. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. When we're walking with God, we're not walking in sin. Galatians 5.16, it's a life verse. It's very simple. If if I'm walking in the spirit, I am not fulfilling the lust of the flesh, right? I've said so many times, the opposite has to be true. Gotta flip it. Right? So if I'm fulfilling the lust of the flesh, I'm not walking in the spirit. I make a choice. Absolutely. And I wish I could blame it on something else. I wish I could sit here and say, you know what, I was born this way. I'm predisposed to this. It's not my fault. I'm genetically wired for this. I can make all those excuses, but at the end of the day, it's my own passions, my own desires that drive me into a direction.

SPEAKER_01

I can't even think of how many times I have in my mentoring of people and discipling people, have used the expression, you've got to starve the flesh and feed the spirit. Because whatever you're feeding is the thing that's going to grow and become stronger. And I use the illustration of animals. You know, hey, if you feed this animal and don't feed this animal, one's going to be stronger than the other. It's the same thing in our spiritual life. If I keep feeding myself with these fleshly things, the worldly things, I call them, I'm listening to this music, I'm watching this TV show, I'm doing the things I know I'm not supposed to do, and I'm starving the spirit, which means I'm not reading my word, I'm not praying, I'm not gathering together for fellowship, I'm not doing these things. Who do you think is gonna win in your spiritual life? The flesh is getting stronger than the spirit. And I tell them they've got to flip that same thing where you're talking about the spirit. You've got to flip that. And now, you know what? I'm gonna stop listening to those things. I'm gonna stop watching those things. I'm going to stop hanging out with those people because what does it say? Bad company corrupts good morals. It's not the other way around. So I'm gonna stop doing those things. This is the don't do it that you're talking about. And now I'm going to, well, we always say, wake up and I'm gonna get along with the Lord and I'm gonna read my word. I'm gonna go into my life groups, I'm gonna study the word of God. I'm gonna listen to good worship songs, I'm gonna fellowship with other people, I'm gonna do the things that's feeding the spirit.

SPEAKER_00

And and again, whichever one you feed is the one that's gonna win. Right? Absolutely.

Stop Fighting For The Enemy

SPEAKER_00

And and so, you know, another thing is don't fight for the enemy. Okay. Listen, Romans 6 13, do not present your bodies as or your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin. Okay. So when you're presenting your body to sin, guess what? You're fighting for the enemy. You're you're you're don't see it that way. Yeah, you're just yeah, here I am, I'm on your side. Yeah. And you know, it it and when we stop and we think about it, as we present ourselves, and again, notice what he said, do not present. Otherwise, we're saying I'm putting myself out there for this. How how what do you expect? Right? I I uh we were joking a moment ago, but you know, I've done quite a few. Hey, y'all watch this stunts in my life. Yeah, and I honestly wish it wasn't true, but I don't know how many emergency room doctors I've had look at me and go, what did you expect? You know, and and I've said, Yeah, but if I would have made it, yeah, you know, I mean I'd have been famous. Yeah. Exactly. But as you stop and you think about that, when when your life blows up over sin, right? You're fighting for the enemy, you're fighting for a defeated enemy, Joe. Yeah. Uh, you know, it it always I'm I'm reading through uh uh the kings right now, you know. So I'm in right, and so I'm kind of studying there a little bit. And and when you you look at that and you look at, and he did worse than his father, and he did worse than his father, and and he built the high places and he built the altars, and and you go back and you go, these are the same gods and the same people that God defeated. Yeah. So I'm gonna take the God that defeated. Them, put him on the shelf, and I'm going to worship and serve the ones that lost.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. That's hilarious to me. It's funny because I just got out of judges, and for me, the story of Gideon is one of the funniest ones where he goes down and he's and they're coming back and they're fighting for and his father has to say, Why y'all fighting for the guy? Shouldn't the God be able to fight for himself? Exactly. Like, stop fighting for the other. And that's exactly what you're talking about right here. When we do that, we're saying, Oh, well, you know what? I want to defend Satan. Ooh, it sounds horrible when I say it that way out of my mouth, but that's exactly what you're doing. Until you said that, I was like, oh, wow. That's real true. I'm fighting for Satan, the defeated one already. And I'm trying to bring him back.

SPEAKER_00

So when I'm when I'm justifying sin in my life, when when I'm I was made this way, uh it's not my fault. This is a series of events led me to it. Whatever excuse I want to lose, uh use, guess what? I'm fighting for the enemy.

unknown

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

And it's not just fighting for the enemy, I'm fighting for a defeated enemy. I I mean, I can't say that enough. I mean, literally, it's like you walking out and you know, a little pickup softball game going on, and you step out and you go, Hey, can I play? And they go, Yeah, this team over here is losing by by 38 points and there's one inning left. Yeah. Uh, which team are you gonna get on? You know? I mean, I won't leave a winner, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So so my my daughter, the youngest one, we like to watch highlights of sports things together. And I'm a big basketball fan, and so we're watching. And it every time we watch it, she says, Daddy, which team is winning? And I said that. She says, That's the team I'm rooting for. Who are you rooting for? Well, I'm sticking with my team. And she said, Well, we'll wait till get closer to the end of the game. And then tell me who's winning, and that's who I'm rooting for. I'm with her. I was gonna say, when you spiritually, that's how we should be. We should be like my five-year-old child who says, Who's winning? That's the side I'm picking. Exactly. But spiritually, we don't do that.

SPEAKER_00

We're not, no. You know, and and it would be different if we didn't know how it ended. Uh-huh. Right? And so the one that we're pulling for, and we can say what we want, but when we willfully sin, we're pulling for him. Absolutely. He's already lost. Yep. And he's just waiting for final judgment. And and so I personally I want to be on the winning side. And and so, you know what? Just don't fight for the enemy. And so when you think about that, you're you're presenting your body in such a way that you're you're defending, you're fighting for the enemy. And why would we do that?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, very true.

SPEAKER_00

So wow. You know, one author called it uh cosmic treason. He he said, you know, when when when you claim to be part of the family of God, and and in a nation, if you turn against your your country, you're treasonous, right? And and and he just says it's cosmic treason. You're wow, you're fighting for the enemy. And and I just think we we need to be aware of that. Yeah, right. That's a good way to look at it. So so when I say, okay, I don't want to fight for the enemy, so what's left for me to do, and that is embrace God's

Stand On God’s Authority

SPEAKER_00

authority. Yeah. And and so if if I know the enemy's been defeated, who defeated him?

unknown

Right?

SPEAKER_00

God. Right. Our Savior. I didn't defeat him, right? And and I can't defeat him. And so what I want to do is embrace God's authority, and and that that allows me to be able, you know, to do that. You know, it it again in a secular explanation of it, but thinking about the authority, right? When when I was in law enforcement, I it wasn't that I I showed up in the authority of Richard, right? Because that didn't do a thing.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, very true.

SPEAKER_00

But I showed up with all the authority of the state of North Carolina where I was a law enforcement officer, with the state of North Carolina and the federal government uh as I was was arresting someone for a crime, right? Right. The authority behind me is what gave me the authority to do my job. Okay. And so, in a much grander sense, in a spiritual sense, it's God's authority that gives us the ability to win the war. It's it's not fighting for myself, it's fighting from him. And and that makes all the difference in the world. Yeah, it does. I mean, think about what he tells us. Do not present your instruments, your your body, and then he says, but do present yourself to God. Right? And so you listen to the choice Paul gives you. Fight for the enemy, fight for God, or rather, fight for the enemy or stand on God's authority. Right? You're not fighting anything. God's already fought it.

SPEAKER_01

I was gonna say it, God's already won, he's already done the work. We already know he's defeated. In fact, the Bible tells us in the end, we're gonna look on it and go, Really, you're the you're the one that's been causing all this problem in my life. You're like, you're nothing. Yeah. Well, we've got to know that now. He's nothing. He is only, the enemy is only what we allow him to be in our life. I think you just said it this past week in a survey. You can't go around saying the devil made me do it because the devil can't make you do nothing. Right. I mean, you didn't say it quite like that, but you know, it was close. It was close. You used proper English, probably. Then again, you're right next. No, you probably didn't.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I'll tell you right now, there's there's every English teacher around cringes. I was about to say, I forgot. Uh but you know, think about it. The the Bible says that that when you're in sin, you're a slave to that sin. Yeah, you okay? So what you're saying is is uh choose slavery over freedom. And and Jesus said in John 8 34, uh, most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin. Yeah, and and so what what you're doing is is you're choosing your master. And and that's it's as simple as it can be. So I I either I'm either gonna choose Christ as my master, or I'm gonna choose sin as my master, because those are my only two choices.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and and Christ has given you the freedom, exactly, you know, and and he's given you the victory, he's done everything that needed to be done so that you can move forward in victory. Yeah, like the the obvious choice is to say, I want to be on the side of the person who has done something for me, who has sacrificed himself for me and has won. But yet in our sin, in our desire, and our wanting to fulfill the flesh, as you've said, we keep choosing the other side. And that guy just wants nothing to nothing to do with you because he doesn't love you. Right. He just wants to destroy you, but he entices you and says, But it's gonna be so good as I'm destroying you. Exactly. So it reminds me of I don't know if you've ever heard this. The way Alaskans kill wolves. I don't know if you've ever heard this. They dip a knife in blood. You okay, so you probably know they dip a knife in blood and then they just stick the knife there. And so the wolves come in and they just lick the blood, lick the blood, lick the blood until they get to the blade. And now the blood that they're tasting is their own blood, but they don't realize and they just keep licking it until they bleed out. That's the craziest thing I ever heard. But that's our spiritual self right there. We're just saying, oh, it's so good, it's so good, it's so good. And then you don't realize you're in the middle of killing yourself, and and then it's just too late. You have just destroyed yourself.

SPEAKER_00

You know, exactly. And so we we stop and we kind of think about all right, I I can I can fall to my own passions, I I can fight for the enemy, or I can stand on God's authority. And and when I'm thinking about all that, then kind of what's my basis for that, you know? And that kind of brings us to the next

Remember Your Story

SPEAKER_00

idea. Remember your own story, right? Um in Romans 6.13, present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead. All right. Ephesians tells us that when we're in sin, that we are dead in our trespasses and sin. Right? You're not sick, you're not a little slow, you're not just not feeling good. You are dead in trespasses and sin. And you're made alive in Christ, is what Paul tells us in Ephesians, okay? So you remember your story. I was dead and now I'm alive. And I was trapped in this and now I'm free from this. Yep. And when you remember your story, you know, we we said a moment ago, you're one bad decision away from what you say you'll never do. Yeah, right. It could be a decision in the past, it could be a decision today, it could be a decision tomorrow. One bad decision. And so I remember my story. I remember that God has brought me through those bad decisions. Yeah, God has given me grace to make the right decision.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

Right. And and so when you remember your story, and and Joey, I know you and I have shared this so many times and and and to others and talking about our personal testimony, and and both of us realize, man, we could be in an entirely different place today than we are right now. Absolutely, right. Yeah, all the way. Right. I I tell people all the time in high school I was voted most likely to do time. So uh, you know, it is it is terrible. Well, it's the truth, right? But when you remember your story and you go, you know what? I know where I should have been, but I know where I am. Yeah, and and I'm not here because I'm a great person and I've cleaned my life up and I've done a great job. It's because God took me out of sin and he gave me victory in that. And and so when I remember my story, and and I look at what God has done in my life, yeah, and and I look at all the crossroads in my life that I had options and choices, and and by God's grace, I made the right ones. And and it certainly wasn't because I was thinking the right way, but so just remember your story. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

I love going back and I love looking at and and I do like this six-month thing. I say, okay, where was I six months ago and where am I now? And how did the Lord get me there? I know you journal, and so you're able to actually look back and see and go for for those of you guys who who don't, this is a great opportunity to say, hey, maybe I do need to start tracking where I am right now. Like say, I've never done this before, I don't even know what you guys are talking about. Let's just track where you are in your life right now. And I want you to just keep making record of where you are and what you're doing, and then go back and look and see, oh, this is where I was with the Lord. This is where I was struggling, and here I am now. And watch how God brought you to that place, and then that story is always going to remind you of hey, God was there with me, God is there for me, He will be there with me until the end, and I can continually move forward. This is why I love in the Old Testament where they say, Oh, this look at what God did. Let's build an altar. So every time we pass by this thing, we're going to remember what God did. And now still they built other things. I get that. Yeah. But at least you have something where you can go back and say, look, look at where I was. And if you have kids, you can show your kids, hey, this is where we were, and this is where God brought us to.

SPEAKER_00

You know, and it and and so just man, just look at your story. Yeah. It's great. And there's none of us, right? And sometimes I have people say to me, Well, I I don't really have a testimony. They go, I I I was raised in a good Christian home. I've always been a good person. I've I've really never, and they have all this list of nevers, and and you know what I always tell them, I said, What a story. That's what I tell them. What a story. I wish that was my testimony. You know, um, you know, what what a story that that you can say, you know, I remember my story. I know I had friends that did, A, B, C, and, and, and I could have, but by God's grace. Yeah, man. Right. And and and then thinking about that. So so when when I'm not going to allow myself to be a slave to sin, then I remember my story. And so when I look at that sin and and I start dabbling in it, right? As we talked to the kid, you know, putting my hand closer to the candle, then I need to go, I know that's hot. I've been burnt by that before.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And and and and it's so important. I, you know, I read the chapter of Proverbs a day, and and I've done that for years. And and even today, read reading uh about the adulterous man and and and the the tragic consequences of that. And you know, when you read through all that and you see warning after warning after warning in scripture of of all these different things, and we still walk off into them, right? Remember your story and know what God brought you through.

Serve The King Daily

SPEAKER_00

And that's good. And you know, the the last thing is serve the king. Just serve the king, right? Romans 6 13 says present your members, your body, as an instrument of righteousness to God. Okay. Now, if I'm serving the king, guess what I'm not serving? The enemy. Exactly. Right? And so I I make my choice, who am I gonna serve? Yeah, and and so in Christ we are God's servants. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace are you saved, not of works. And he says, you know, the reason I'm not gonna let you do it of works, because no man can boast about it. Exactly. But then we get to verse 10, he says, but you were created born again unto good works. I saved you for a reason. Yeah, right? Yeah, uh, serve the king. Amen. And when you're serving the king, Ephesians 5, 6 or Galatians 5, 16, if I'm walking in the Spirit, I'm not fulfilling the lust of the flesh.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. And and so he lays that out for us. I love that. Present yourself as an instrument, a good instrument. A good instrument, not a tambourine, a good instrument. Don't go shaking and playing off beat. We want a good instrument. That hurts. I've got a tambourine in my office. Please keep it there. Please. Now we're going to get hate mail. You will. No, but I I hear exactly what you're saying. Uh we we do need to present ourselves. And and and when I think instruments, I think worship. And this are we presenting ourselves to God in worship? Right. And are we worshiping him through everything that we're going through? Because if not, then then you need to get yourself to the place where you're going, Lord, no matter what. I say this to my kids all the time, and I say this to so many other people. What else do you want from God? He's given you enough. Exactly. Right? He's giving you enough. What else are you expecting?

SPEAKER_00

Right. Well, when you look at someone and say, This is the path.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And and and it's clearly laid out. You you don't even have to look for it. It's it's so easy. And they leave the path, you know, then you're you're not happy they got hurt, but you're like, what did you expect? Right. And and so I think I know God has laid out so clearly for us in his word. And so the reality is, man, we can we can beat this, right? We don't have to live in this life of sin. We don't have to go down what I call the rat hole. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But we make choices.

SPEAKER_01

I love

Six Points Recap And Challenge

SPEAKER_01

that. And I just want to re-emphasize the six points that you talked about. You said, don't go back to prison. Like you've been freed. Right. Why are you going back? Don't give in to those sinful passions. And that's a hard one. Like I hear that and I go, ooh, but it's there, it's there, it's there. But as you have said, if we're walking in the spirit, then we can't walk in the flesh, right? So I love that. Uh don't fight for the enemy. I think that's kind of one of those where I I heard you say that and went, ooh, ow. We do do that. Yeah. Like we we try to say, oh, but but uh but I'm fighting for him so bad. Stop doing that. Uh embrace God's authority. Remember your story, and I think that's key. Remember where you were, know where you are, and then if you know the Bible, you know where you're going exactly. So let's rejoice in that. Remember that story and serve the king. Man, that's just that's good stuff. I really appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00

Well, I just want to encourage people to go back and think of that sin that we talked about in the beginning. Take these that you just went through and say, how do these work and how can I beat that?

Subscribe And Closing Prayerful Sendoff

SPEAKER_01

Amen. Hey, thank you so much for being here. And guys, thank you so much for tuning in to the reality is podcast, where we're here talking about real life and real faith. Would you do us a favor? Would you like, subscribe, share this with your friends, and ring the bell that way you're never missing an episode of the reality is podcast. Until next time, we'd like to say thank you for listening. God bless you, and have a great day.

SPEAKER_02

The reality where real life makes real fun. The reality where real life makes real fun.