God has called Christians to a life of
change. Peter summarized it this way
in Acts 3:19: “Repent therefore and be
converted, that your sins may be
blotted out.” Both “repent” and “be converted” are
translated from Greek words that
involve change. Repent is translated
from the Greek metanoeo, which is
defined as “change one’s
mind” (Frederick William Danker, ed., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament and Other Early Christian
Literature). “Be converted” is from the
Greek epistrepho, defined as “to
change direction” (ibid.). Any major project, whether building
an office building, taking an extended
trip or having a wedding, requires
planning. Any task worth doing is
worth devoting meaningful thought
and preparation to. Christian conversion―overcoming
sin―is no different. Here are seven tried and tested steps
that, if used, will help us in overcoming
sin. Step 1: We must want to overcome This sounds simple. However, too
many people fail to change because
they really don’t want to expend the
time and effort necessary to make the
changes they need to make. We will
tell ourselves, “I want to overcome this problem.” But then we will not do
what is necessary to overcome. Most of us realize that we will always
find time to do the things we really
want to do. If there is something we
really want to do, we generally don’t
let anything stand in the way of our
doing it. However, it is also natural to keep
putting off those things we really don’t
want to do. So why don’t we overcome those
harmful habits, wrong words and evil
thoughts that so easily beset us? We
must ask ourselves, “Do I really want
to overcome them?” How much effort
and planning have we put into making the changes we need to
make? Changing old habits―ways of doing
things, ways of thinking and speaking
—is not easy. Sometimes such
changes are literally painful (especially
if there is a physical addiction to
overcome). And changing any old habit of thought, word or deed is not
easy because the change takes us out
of our comfort zone. Old ways of
doing things are comfortable. We
follow those ways automatically. To
change will require constant alertness, effort and a willingness to face the
discomfort of change. Therefore, the first step is to determine
that we really want to change badly
enough to expend the needed time,
effort and planning. We will never
follow the rest of these steps unless
we really want to change. Step 2: Clearly identify the sins we
need to overcome To honestly search for and see our
own sins is unpleasant. Why? No
correction is pleasant (Hebrews 12:11)
. Even self-correction is unpleasant.
However, self-correction is less painful
than being corrected by someone else. We don’t like to see the areas of our
lives that need change. It is painful to
see our failings. But, if we are going to
change, we must be committed to
finding and facing our faults. To understand how painful this is, ask
yourself, “When was the last time I
asked my mate or anyone to show me
a fault I need to change?” The answer
in the majority of cases will be,
“Never!” We don’t even like to ask ourselves. But we must, because self-
examination is something a Christian
is instructed to do (2 Corinthians 13:5)
. In prayer we can seek God’s help to
see where we need to change. We find
such a prayer in Jeremiah 10:23-24:
“O LORD, I know the way of man is not
in himself; it is not in man who walks
to direct his own steps. O LORD, correct me, but with justice; not in Your anger,
lest You bring me to nothing.” If we ask God to show us our sins, He
will. But be prepared to see them.
Seeing our sins will be painful. If we
don’t remember that we asked God to
help us see them, we may try to forget
what we see instead of learning from them and seeking to implement the
steps for overcoming those sins. Identifying sin in ourselves is more
than just identifying wrong thoughts,
words and deeds. We must also
identify the cause of sin. Why did we
think, say or do what we did? The
reason will most often be some form of selfishness or lust (see 1 John
2:15-16). Unless we work on overcoming the
cause of our sins, we will keep
repeating them. If we just stop the
outward “show” of sin without
changing the underlying reason, our
sin will not be fully overcome. To completely overcome sin we must
be seeking to honestly see what the
sin is and its cause, and be truly
committed to overcoming both the sin
and the cause. Step 3: Study to learn what should
replace the cause of sin For every sin of selfishness or lust,
there is a way of righteous love that
should be put in its place. Once we
have seen the cause of our sins, we
must seek to learn the way of
righteousness that needs to replace it. The way of righteousness needs to
become what we truly are. This
involves studying God’s Word―the
Bible―seeking to learn and
understand the spirit of God’s laws.
The letter of the law reveals what we are to do. But it is possible to
outwardly do what is right with a
wrong attitude. It is the spirit of God’s
law that reveals how we are to think
as well as conduct ourselves. Jesus revealed this principle in
Matthew 5:27-28: “You have heard
that it was said to those of old, ‘You
shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to
you that whoever looks at a woman to
lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Every sin that we commit has some
cause―some aspect of selfishness or
lust. In order to overcome the cause of
sin, we need to learn how God wants
us to be. This involves learning God’s
way of love as revealed by the spirit of His laws. Paul expressed this in simple
terms in Romans 12:21: “Do not be
overcome by evil, but overcome evil
with good.” Once we know how God wants us to
think and conduct ourselves, we can
proceed to the next step.

[color=#000000][/color]Step 4: Meditate on living by what
God says is right Knowledge is useless unless we
understand how to apply it. Too often
having knowledge of God’s way of
living does not transfer to our daily
living. Meditation—taking sufficient
time to deeply think about a specific incident or concept—is an important
tool in learning how to actually use the
knowledge we learn from our study of
God’s Word. Every sin we commit is triggered by
something we encounter in our daily
lives. We may be late for an
appointment. As a result, we get
impatient with others if anything
happens to further delay us. Every sin is triggered by some
occurrence in our daily lives to which
we did not respond in a right manner.
In step 2 we should have identified
the cause of our sins. As we identify
the cause, we should also be taking note of what triggered the sinful
response. Meditation helps us to mentally
practice putting the right response in
place before we are faced by the
triggering situation. In our personal
time of quiet reflection we can
meditate on what we should do when we see or sense a situation may lead
to a wrong response. We can call this
mentally practicing righteousness. Or,
as Paul said in Philippians 4:8, “Finally,
brethren, whatever things are true, …
noble, … just, … pure, … lovely, … of good report, if there is any virtue and
… anything praiseworthy―meditate
on these things.” If we are truly committed to changing,
if we really want to overcome these
sins, God through His Spirit will spark
the right thoughts in our minds if we
are asking Him to do so. God wants us
to change. He will help. This kind of meditation helps prepare
our minds for responding righteously
when we should. For further study on
this tool for spiritual growth, see the
article “What Is Meditation?” Step 5: Pray for God’s help to
remember the right response For each of us, it seems that there is
some sin that “easily ensnares
us” (Hebrews 12:1). These are sins
that we should be working on
overcoming first. We should daily ask
God in prayer to help us. We need to ask Him to help us remember to have
the righteous response come to our
minds when the trigger situations
arise. If we are truly committed to changing,
if we really want to overcome these
sins, God through His Spirit will spark
the right thoughts in our minds if we
are asking Him to do so. God wants us
to change. He will help. One way we draw closer to God is by seeking to
live righteously. God has promised to
draw near to us if we draw near to Him
(James 4:. But to draw close to God, we need to
be committed to living His way of life
and praying for His help. To learn
more about prayer, see the articles in
the section “How to Pray.” Step 6: Begin living the right way Right habits take time to build. They
will not be built if we do not replace
our old habits with new, godly ways
of living. We have to implement what
we have learned to actually change
the way we live. God offers us His power through His
Spirit to help. That power will grow in
us. And the ability to use that power
will grow as we use it to live rightly.
Paul reassures us: “For God has not
given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2
Timothy 1:7). Once we begin to practice
righteousness, we must continue with
step 7. Step 7: Don’t give up We may not use the right response the
first time it is needed. However, if the
right response came to mind (even
after the fact) that was progress. We
need to keep seeking God’s help. If
we continue to strive to live rightly, we will begin responding sooner.
Eventually we will begin responding
correctly as our first response. The sin
will be replaced with righteousness.
Evil will be overcome with good.Step 4: Meditate on living by what
God says is right Knowledge is useless unless we
understand how to apply it. Too often
having knowledge of God’s way of
living does not transfer to our daily
living. Meditation—taking sufficient
time to deeply think about a specific incident or concept—is an important
tool in learning how to actually use the
knowledge we learn from our study of
God’s Word. Every sin we commit is triggered by
something we encounter in our daily
lives. We may be late for an
appointment. As a result, we get
impatient with others if anything
happens to further delay us. Every sin is triggered by some
occurrence in our daily lives to which
we did not respond in a right manner.
In step 2 we should have identified
the cause of our sins. As we identify
the cause, we should also be taking note of what triggered the sinful
response. Meditation helps us to mentally
practice putting the right response in
place before we are faced by the
triggering situation. In our personal
time of quiet reflection we can
meditate on what we should do when we see or sense a situation may lead
to a wrong response. We can call this
mentally practicing righteousness. Or,
as Paul said in Philippians 4:8, “Finally,
brethren, whatever things are true, …
noble, … just, … pure, … lovely, … of good report, if there is any virtue and
… anything praiseworthy―meditate
on these things.” If we are truly committed to changing,
if we really want to overcome these
sins, God through His Spirit will spark
the right thoughts in our minds if we
are asking Him to do so. God wants us
to change. He will help. This kind of meditation helps prepare
our minds for responding righteously
when we should. For further study on
this tool for spiritual growth, see the
article “What Is Meditation?” Step 5: Pray for God’s help to
remember the right response For each of us, it seems that there is
some sin that “easily ensnares
us” (Hebrews 12:1). These are sins
that we should be working on
overcoming first. We should daily ask
God in prayer to help us. We need to ask Him to help us remember to have
the righteous response come to our
minds when the trigger situations
arise. If we are truly committed to changing,
if we really want to overcome these
sins, God through His Spirit will spark
the right thoughts in our minds if we
are asking Him to do so. God wants us
to change. He will help. One way we draw closer to God is by seeking to
live righteously. God has promised to
draw near to us if we draw near to Him
(James 4:. But to draw close to God, we need to
be committed to living His way of life
and praying for His help. To learn
more about prayer, see the articles in
the section “How to Pray.” Step 6: Begin living the right way Right habits take time to build. They
will not be built if we do not replace
our old habits with new, godly ways
of living. We have to implement what
we have learned to actually change
the way we live. God offers us His power through His
Spirit to help. That power will grow in
us. And the ability to use that power
will grow as we use it to live rightly.
Paul reassures us: “For God has not
given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2
Timothy 1:7). Once we begin to practice
righteousness, we must continue with
step 7. Step 7: Don’t give up We may not use the right response the
first time it is needed. However, if the
right response came to mind (even
after the fact) that was progress. We
need to keep seeking God’s help. If
we continue to strive to live rightly, we will begin responding sooner.
Eventually we will begin responding
correctly as our first response. The sin
will be replaced with righteousness.
Evil will be overcome with good.

We can pray against temptation-

Luke 11-2And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

3Give us day by day our daily bread.

4And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.



And Jesus also prayed for Simon Peter against temptation

Luke 22-31And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.



James1-
12Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.


So,how do we resist temptation -Just like Jesus did,we Quote the word against it

I st Samuel 2:9-He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

Psalm 199:11-Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.


John17:17-Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Christ is coming.and he comes for a pure church.
Ephesians 5-
25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Romans 8-
13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.


So,how do we resist temptation-

Ephesians 6:17-

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Hebrews 4:

12For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are Unclad and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do

What did Jesus do when he went into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
He spoke the word of God.
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The Word of God can help us stop sinning.

Romans 6:23-23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 10: 13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
I too struggled with sexual immorality until one day the temptation came and I think I said (I must have received help from the Lord)- THE SEXUALLY IMMORAL SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD
The temptation eased up. And i thought the word of God can help the homosexuals or other sinners too.They can say when tempted



1 Corinthians 6-9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God when temptation comes,you need the word of God.

For pride-James 4:6But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Luke 14:

For fear-2 Timothy 1- 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

For Sexual immorality -18Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.