When I was growing up there was a church not too far from our church that we called “the radical church”. I always thought it was called that because they seemed to have radical ideas about what was appropriate behavior. They had a list of “dos” and “don’ts” that all of their members had to abide by. I only heard about the “don’ts”. They weren’t allowed to join any secret society, play any kind of card games, use tobacco or alcohol, go dancing, wear any makeup, etc.
As I have grown older, I have become aware that many churches have similar lists. If you are really a Christian, you will do all the “dos” and you won’t do any of the “don’ts”. Some of those lists are formalized and written down in the church rules or doctrines with specific consequences for violations. Others are only held in the minds of various members and enforced through peer pressure.
I have come to believe that many of these lists do more harm than good. For new believers they can be an overwhelming burden and for existing members it increases anxiety because they now have behaviors they can’t or don’t want to quit that they have to hide from other members. The Lord came to free us from burdens and anxieties not add to them.
Perhaps a picture can help get my point across. When I was living for my own pleasure and not trying to follow Christ, I think of every sin I committed in thought, word, or deed, as being another brick in a wall I was building between myself and the Lord. When I finally gave my life to the Lord, I realized the wall needed to come down. The question was, where do I start. The wall was very tall and very wide. Some of those sins, or bricks in the wall, were pretty obvious. They were the ones right in front of my face. (Some others may have been right in front of someone else’s face.) Unfortunately, those bricks in front of my face are not only the hardest ones to get out, If I take too many out from there the whole wall may collapse and I could be killed or injured. The safest way to dismantle a brick wall is to go to the top of the wall and at one end. That will be the easiest brick to remove, then proceed down the row, brick by brick, row by row. I don’t know what sins those bricks represent but the Holy Spirit does.
The good news is, we don’t have to do the work alone. The Bible calls this process of eliminating sins from our lives, “sanctification”. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 tells us, “23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” The Holy Spirit, living within us, will do most of the work for us. He will remove most of those sins from our lives without our even being aware. When He wants our help and when the time is right, He will bring it to our mind to try to give up some habit in thought, word, or deed. That will be the time when He knows we are ready and able to do it.
When I was in my late teens to early twenty’s, I used to smoke. It was only a few years after I started smoking that I realized it wasn’t good for me and I could save money if I gave it up. I tried to quit many times but the urge to smoke was too strong for me. But then something happened. I tried to quit one more time and it worked without any problem. The only thing I can think of was that finally, I was really ready to quit.
The same thing can happen if we try too soon to give up some ingrained, sinful behavior. If we try before we are really ready, we will only reap disappointment and failure. When I was smoking there was something inside my body pushing me toward smoking. Other sinful behaviors are the same way. Something we don’t understand is working inside us to push us toward those behaviors. We need to give the Holy Spirit time to deal with what is inside us before we try to give it up. He will let us know when it is time.
My recommendation for everyone is to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you in this sanctification process. Spend time in prayer, asking often for the Lord to show you any area of your life that needs to change. Spend time reading the scriptures and asking the Holy Spirit to show you how each passage should be applied to your life. Don’t forget 1 Thessalonians 5:24, “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”