Struggling with Sin: Why It Doesn’t Make You a Bad Christian

All of us struggle with sin. And many of us feel that we must be bad Christians because of that struggle.

But struggling with sin doesn’t make you a bad Christian.

If that were true, you would have to say Paul was a bad Christian. (Romans 7:15-19)

What struggling with sin means is that you now have the Holy Spirit in your heart pointing out your sin and giving you a hatred for it.

Before we became Christians, many times we didn’t recognize our own sin, and even if we did, we were in love with it.

But when we became Christians, the Holy Spirit started the process of transforming our minds, helping us see sin as the evil thing it is while at the same time giving us a desire to do what is right.

More than that, if we ask him, he gives us the power to do what is right.

That’s something the law couldn’t do. The law could point out our sin. But it couldn’t give us the desire or the power to do right.

That’s the difference between living by the Spirit and living by the law. (6)

So I don’t worry so much about the Christian who struggles with sin.

If you hate your sin, and led by the Spirit, you keep taking the next step the Spirit gives you, you’ll be fine.

It’s the person who claims to be a Christian and yet loves their sin that I worry about.

What next step is God showing you?

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.

See if there is any offensive way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way. (Psalm 139:23-24)