Kill the Noise نموونە

Stop Signs

You’re driving home and you start thinking about porn. You know your laptop is chilling, waiting for you in the bedroom. So, you begin planning your strategy. Suddenly, a voice in your head tells you, “Don’t do it!” It wouldn’t be right, and you totally agree. Bang, that’s a stop sign. A stop sign is the Holy Spirit jumping in to help you not do the sin you’re tempted to do.

You get home, say “What’s up?” to your family, walk into your room, and close the door. You see your laptop. “Don’t pick it up.” Another stop sign. You pick up your laptop and sit down on your bed. “Don’t open it up.” Another stop sign. You open it and bring up your browser. “Do not type those words in your search line.” But your fingers start hitting the keys. Four clear stop signs, yet you’ve blown through each one, and you are well aware of what you’ve just done.

Rarely will we find ourselves in a sinful situation without recognizing that what we are about to do is wrong. We’ve got our conscience and the Holy Spirit, and both are telling us, “Don’t do it!” The problem is we want to do it. So, no matter how many times we hear “Stop,” our flesh tells us, “Don’t stop! Punch it! Run the stop sign!”

Each of us must decide whether we really want to give up on sin, or whether we just like to talk the talk while pretending to be a Christian. I can’t tell you how many guys have come up to me and said, “Ryan, I just can’t get rid of the porn. I stop, then I start up again. I give it up, then suddenly I’m back in it.” I’ll tell them, “You’re not giving it up, because you don’t want to give it up.” They’ll get all defensive until I tell them, “Okay, if you want to stop the porn, get rid of the internet on your smartphone and laptop. Get a dumb phone. Get yourself an accountability app.”

They’ll look shocked, like I just asked them to give me everything they own. “Well, Ryan, I need my smartphone and laptop for work and texting my family and stuff.”

“Okay, then get rid of the internet in your house.”

“What? Are you nuts?”

The apostle Paul wrote, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure” (1 Corinthians 10:13). God has promised us a way out to keep temptation from turning into sin. We must decide if we are willing to take that way, no matter what it costs. How much do you want to live a holy life and obey God’s Word? Jesus said, “All who love me will do what I say” (John 14:23). Do you really love Jesus enough to stop doing what you’re doing?

Now, before you get discouraged at your repeated failures, realize that not even Paul could live a totally holy life. In Romans 7, he is open about not doing the things he knows he should do, and doing the things he knows he shouldn’t do. But what we do see in him is a desire for holiness. You’re either a servant for God or a servant of Satan. Your bodies are either an instrument of sin or an instrument of the Holy Spirit. Ask God for the ability to see the stop signs in your life and obey them, and for the strength and courage to do whatever it takes to live the way He has called you to live.

Fully Committed means deciding that you really do want to stop sinning. That sounds so obvious, “Ryan, I’m a Christian. Of course, I want to stop sinning.” But saying you want to stop sinning and actually wanting to stop sinning are two very different things. There are a lot of Christians who are all about giving up 80% of their sins or 95% of their sins or 99.9% of their sins. But going 99.9% in is no different than going 10% in. It still falls short of “all”. And “all” is the standard that God gives to us. As we saw with Paul, nobody can perfectly live up to the “all” standard. But we’ve got to want that perfection with all our hearts. Fully Committed means being willing to say one word whenever the temptation comes: “No”. Are you truly ready to live a life of “No” when it comes to sin?