A high school student recently asked me a very difficult question. Sitting in the back row of the group he raised his hand and with a perplexed but concerned expression on his face he asked, “How do we do the right thing when the emotions and desires inside us are so overwhelming that it doesn’t even seem possible to resist sin?”

Of course, we can hastily answer this question from the scriptures, tossing out several verses, might even recommend boundaries, but after the student asked me that question, and after I answered, I realized that in my own life I am very much in that same boat, asking and answering that question, while still pandering to those same sinful circumstances. The desire to do well is seemingly dwarfed, overrun, and overwhelmed by the desire to do wrong.

We must, of course, begin with Christ, and salvation, and grace and mercy – but I don’t even know if we can fully appreciate that graceful salvation (and probably never will until heaven) if we can’t recognize how much we’re overrun by sin, and how serious that sin is. If we even want to be justified before God, and saved by his mercy, then we must beat our breast as did the tax collector, recognize how honestly we deserve the wrath of God, and then humbly beg God for his mercy. For in that Luke passage, Jesus says it is only such a person who can walk away justified – only those who humble themselves and realize their unworthiness, who realize their extensive need. (Luke 18:9-14) If we are smug, complacent, and comfortable are we justified? (Look up the passage).

I bring this up because I think sometimes we get very nonchalant about sin, and in so doing become flippant with the grace of God. “Oh, well, Christianity is all about Grace, and God is gracious, and I’m forgiven, and so I can’t beat myself up.” All of that is true and theologically beautiful – but such a statement shouldn’t be said in defensiveness, it shouldn’t be said complacently, it shouldn’t be a doctrine that makes us COMFORTABLE with our sin… No. Such grace should be talked about with tears and weeping, and a deep sense of gratitude towards God. Otherwise we may have taken his grace for granted, in which case we may have not taken it at all.

Grace cannot be a license to sin. Grace cannot make us comfortable in our sin. Rather, the offense of sin ought to stir up within us a contrite heart, not a comfortable heart, and out of appreciation for grace (if we really believe that grace is so great) then we should seek to honor that grace with our lives, to give up the sin which grace covered.

So, maybe we DO want to change, maybe we DO want to resist sin, but what can we do about sin that overwhelms us and dwarfs our desire to walk rightly? Quick answer: This is something that can take weeks and weeks of studies (and many volumes have been written) but here’s where it begins: In the heart.

Solomon writes that “the heart is the wellspring of life”, and that it must therefore be guarded above all else (Pr 4:23).

Christ says that “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander,” and fill in the blank with whatever pet sin. (Matt. 15:19) Has my heart been brimming with these sinful temptations over the years, untouched and uncleaned to such and extent that it is now so encrusted with habitual sins that any attempt to do the right thing is futile? If for years I have trained my flesh, heart, and body to submit to instant gratification, won’t it then become very difficult to retrain it?

It is from the heart that life flows and that which fills that heart brims over into actions, therefore we must ask, “What are we filling our hearts with? What are we letting sit in our hearts?”

In chapter 7 of Proverbs, Solomon explains to his son how to resist the attractive lure of the whore (in other words, how to resist lust).

His recommendation:

“Keep my words

And store them up WITHIN YOU.

Keep my commands and you will live;

Guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

Bind them on your finger;

WRITE THEM ON THE TABLET OF YOUR HEART.

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

And call understanding your kinsman;

THEY WILL KEEP YOU FROM THE ADULTERESS,

FROM THE WAYWARD WIFE WITH HER

SEDUCTIVE WORDS.”

So, how to be kept away from a temptation like lust? We begin by filling our hearts with that which is the opposite of the sin; fill our hearts and thoughts with the righteous words of scripture and the wisdom of the godly life.

If my heart and mind are bent towards constant prayer and the repetition of scriptures then it is these things that will spill out into my life rather than sin.

So how do I resist when long habits have let my thoughts and heart run rampant with overwhelmingly sinful desires? I must begin by repairing what’s been left in disarray. I must begin by taking those thoughts captive, arresting them, and making them obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:5). I must counter them with thoughts of his grace, and with memorized scriptures that call for godly living. For then I am relying on him, and his word, and his strength rather than my own human efforts and boundaries.

This is the advice God gave to you and me to generate change. Please pray that I would do this and I pray that you will.