Hey Friends,

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (Romans 6:1). I love the EASY translation, “Someone might say, ‘Perhaps we should continue to do wrong things. Then God can be kind to us in more and more ways.'”

Romans 6:1

How do I describe sin?? Hmmm, often times, we only see sin as a very bad thing, yet we wonder why we continue to fall in the same sin. See, the devil disguises sin as something pleasurable, which is why we go back to doing the things we’ve vowed not to do anymore. Now I understand why we are in this world but not of this world. If we only live according to the desires of our flesh, we will always look for those things that gets us in a state of euphoria. We wouldn’t be talking about instant gratification today if there isn’t some sort of excitement derived from it. I’m not advocating for sin right now, I just want you to understand why you can’t deal with sin on your own.

One thing I’ve come to find out about sin is that, no matter how much of a planner or big thinker you are, a sinner is never futuristic. You know that feeling that just wants you damn all consequences, and just live in the moment. Yes, I said damn all consequences, because you know, even in that state of euphoria, that what you’re indulging in is wrong, but you choose to ignore it.

So, Flee!! When I was thinking about this, a vivid picture came to my head about what God means by flee, I would try my best to paint that picture for you. I remember some years ago, when I went for a school excursion to the Zoo. The tour guides were doing an awesome job of telling us about each animal we saw. We had just walked by Hyenas, and we were told about their appetite. How they almost never get tired of eating, as long as they have enough prey, they keep hunting. The tour guide also emphasized how they deal with their preys, when captured. We were pretty terrified, yet fascinated by what we were hearing. What we felt most as a group was gratefulness at not being the preys of these Hyenas. I guess we hoped too soon. Not too long after walking past them, we heard someone screaming and running for their lives. When we asked why people were running, we were told that one of the Hyenas had escaped. It became an all-man for himself, as the teachers didn’t even turn back to figure out if the students were okay. We all started running, because no one wanted to become a prey to an Hyena, especially after all that we had heard. Writing this, I can still feel my heart beat. I started thinking about how I wouldn’t see my family. In a bid not to lose them, I ran for dear life. It was a horrible experience.

If you can imagine how fast I must have ran in other to escape being the prey of the Hyena, then you get the picture the Bible is painting when it says to flee from all appearances of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). What I found most interesting about that verse is that it talks about appearance. It’s not even full blown evil yet, if it looks like evil, sounds like evil, smells like evil, then run away from it. God understands the way our mind works. He knows you don’t even have to indulge in it to be culpable, you only have to think it. Stop giving your mind unnecessary tasks to get busy with. Actually get busy with productive things.

I understand that there is a constant struggle to do away with sin, but it is not a struggle you can win on your own. You need the Holy Spirit. One thing you might not realize you also need is to learn to forgive yourself for your past mistakes. Don’t be entrapped by the devil. All he wants to do is keep you guilty, making you think you can’t be forgiven. God is willing and has already forgiven you, from the moment you truly repented. Now don’t be so hard on yourself and actually forgive you. Rather than continue to torture myself with unforgiveness, I’ve found that it’s better to call a meeting of all the stakeholders- The Holy Spirit, my mind, my Spirit, and my flesh. Do not isolate yourself when you feel far from God. The devil wants you in misery, deprive him that pleasure by seeking for help. Ask God for help, read books (Do Yourself a Favor, Forgive by Joyce Meyer is a good one), you can also talk to people who can pray with you.

You have to be futuristic in your approach to sin. Is it worth losing my peace? How does this affect my relationship with God? Can I live with the consequences of my actions? When you start answering these questions, you lose interest for that thing.

Oh, and how can I forget this, please let’s stop sugarcoating a sin. Call it by it’s name. It’s not an act of love, it’s a sexual sin. It’s not punishing your boss for not paying you well, it’s stealing. It’s not withholding the truth, it’s lieing. Let’s also stop putting ourselves in compromising situations and assume that we are strong enough to walk out unscathed. Let me humble you- you are not as strong as you think. The Bible says to flee, not pray. Don’t put yourself in a dangerous situation and start to pray, just walk away. Our desires can sometimes be stronger than we can handle. So, Flee!!

With exceeding love,

Mz_Ola.