5 Ways the Enemy Lures Us into Recurrent Sin . . . and What to Do

NOTE: For those who receive my daily post on your phones and didn’t see the picture of my mom’s baptism yesterday, here it is:

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Many believers struggle with sins that continue to haunt them, even when they fight hard to gain victory. Satan and his forces delight when Christians keep losing that battle. Perhaps understanding better what the enemy does will help us say “No” to his next attempt to lure us across the sin line:

1. He attacks us in our aloneness. It’s not a surprise that sins we often struggle with are hidden sins. It’s chasing pornographic images when nobody’s watching. It’s committing adultery, but only through sneaking around. It’s thinking about how important and talented we are, but doing so only in the privacy of our minds. It’s plagiarizing a sermon, trusting that nobody will ever find out. Secrets almost always = the enemy’s victory.
2. He turns our attention to the temporary and emphasizes the fun of sin. The fruit hanging from the forbidden tree captures our attention, even though we usually know any pleasure it brings will be only fleeting. That’s also why some sins become recurrent and domineering in our lives – the temporary “fun” of sin leaves us only wanting more (it NEVER fully satisfies), and we return to it again and again.
3. He camouflages the consequences of our choices. Adam died after he ate the fruit in the Garden of Eden, but it was 900+ years later; it’s the enemy who still says to us today, “If there are any consequences to your sin, they’ll be so far in the future that it won’t matter.”
4. He pushes us to bank on the grace of God. The enemy delights when we use the grace of God as permission to continue in our sin. “God will forgive you anyway, so what’s the big deal?” he asks. We buy into his teaching, continue to live in sin, and wrongly assume that God’s abundant grace gives us clearance to sin abundantly.
5. He emphasizes our defeats . . . over and over again. That is, He wants us to get so discouraged in our defeat that we give up the fight; we wrongly believe that even God won’t help us win this battle anymore.

If you’re caught in recurrent sins, recognize what the enemy’s doing – and turn back to God. Here’s another post that might help you, too: 5 Steps to Break Ongoing Sin Patterns in Your Life.