Move On and Stop It

When I was a little girl, I used to bite my nails.  It was a terrible habit that would create some pain especially when I would bite my nail down to the quick.  Not only did it hurt, it left my fingers completely unattractive.  Even as a child, I understood the habit wasn’t good, and one day I decided to stop.  I can with clarity remember mentally reminding myself each time my fingertips would reach my lips that the answer was “no”.  Eventually, with a great deal of self-control, the habit was broken.

Although the habit was broken…for a while at least…the temptation was still there.  The desire still lingered…staying the course was truly the only solution.  Not giving up was imperative.

Sometimes, we have sin and bad habits in our life that must be broken.  Often, I think we wait for some rare remedy to cure us or a magical wand to ZAP us and pull us away from those things that entangle us when the answer may be as simple/difficult as walking away from that sin or habit, tapping into the self-control that God has given us, and then staying the course and not giving up.

I like the way Jesus puts it in John 8.  In this chapter, a woman caught in adultery was dragged before Him in the Temple and humiliated in front of the crowd.  The Pharisees told Him that according to the law she should be stoned, and they wanted to know what He thought about all of this.  Of course, it was a trap and Jesus did not succumb to it, but He did say two very profound things in this exchange:

To the Pharisees, “They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, ‘All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!’” (vs 7, NLT)   And to the woman He said:  “Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, ‘Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?’ ‘No, Lord,’ she said.  And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I. Go and sin no more.’” (vs 10,11, NLT)

Go and sin no more…  He did not condemn her, but He was very specific about her next steps:  Move on and stop it.  It did not mean that she would never again feel the temptation or desire to indulge in her sin, but it did mean that she DID have control over it.  Hebrews 12 says we have the ability to throw off sin; James 4 says we have the ability to submit and resist.  Galatians 5 says that if we walk in the Spirit, we’re not going to gratify the flesh.

Today, if we need to walk away from a sin or unholy habit, let’s repent.  And then, let’s get up and move on.  Let’s stop doing what we were doing before and let’s allow Christ to lead us into a place of HOLINESS through His Holy Spirit.