Romans 6:11-14

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. -Romans 6:11-14

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Are you wise in the way that you’re dealing with sin?  In this passage, the Apostle Paul writes that we are not to let sin reign in our mortal body.  What in the world does that mean?

It means we need to be wise about how we deal with the temptations in our lives that lead to sin.  If you’re struggling with a particular sin, and you’ve been trying to deal with it the same way for years, by now you should probably get the message that whatever you’re doing is not working.  Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Not allowing sin to reign in us begins with prevention.  For example, it’s probably not a good idea for an alcoholic to hang around in bars.  That’s just unwise because the temptation of a drink is right in front of you.  It’s the same thing with any other temptation, being wise and creating a situation where you are far from that temptation is going to help.

This is where the tough part comes in.  Prevention might mean cutting things out in your life.  That’s what the Apostle Paul meant when he says “do not offer any part of yourself to sin.”  It means you got to cut things out in your life that may encourage you to a particular sin.  So for the alcoholic, the bar is probably a no go.

For you, it might be things that are hard to cut out.  It might be cutting out friendships that at this time isn’t healthy for you.  It might be cutting out a sport you really like but it’s become an idol in your life.  Cutting things out is hard.

But when we do cut things out for the sake of our faith, we see that God replaces whatever we cut out with Himself.  We experience a greater joy than what any temptation or sin can provide.  Far greater joy.

What do you have to cut out in your life?