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Hating Sin

abflab91abflab91
edited December 1969 in Faith Issues
Ok people, i have this sin which i have fallen into for quit a long time now. It is now really starting to take its toll on me both spiritually and physically and in all aspects of my life. What the problem is, is that i enjoy this sin. HOW DO I LEARN TO HATE THIS SIN???

If anyone can lead to me to any good books or articles or sermons on the net, that would really help. Also im sure ur prayers will help.

Thnx in advance

Comments

  • rpmrpm
    For starters, just open yourself to God, asking Him for guidance and pray that the desire to sin and the opportunity to sin don't come at the same time. Praying can be hard for us to do so in our pleasurable moment and we realize that we cannot connect with Him till we hurt inside.

    Most of us have something in our lives that we enjoy doing, despite knowing that its wrong. I have a BIG trouble with food at times - eating wrong type of food etc - I could preach good advice to my kids on the negatives. But when it comes to myself, I become a willing slave to it, allowing the urges to take control. I believe its a form of selfishness that causes one to excuse ourselves since it may not be a terrible evil. Others I have heard of have similar pleasurable "struggles" against smoking, alcoholism, addiction to internet, movies, golf etc.

    In my case, after a period of guilt-laden personal audit, its time to enter correction mode and have learnt to ask myself:-

    1. Did it (the activity) bring glory to God and benefit to others.
    2. Was the time and money spent on it really worthwhile - reminding myself that we are custodians of God's gifts, not
        owners. Isn't the Bible full of examples exhorting us
    3. After knowing and reading and listening to a lot about our Lord's sacrifice for us sinners, was I a good example of His
        servant or was I a shameless slave to Satanic temptation.

        However, all said and done, we are still likely to stumble again. Which is why praying in our Orthodox tradition is so appropriate. It may seem so repetitive and monotonous to the outsider but considering the following verse from 2 Peter 2:22, “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”, we realize that we can never pray enough.
  • mikeforjesusmikeforjesus
    From life of repentance by H.H Pope Shenouda III
    http://tasbeha.org/content/hh_books/Repentan/index.html


    E.
    You may say: `Is it possible for me to live the rest of
    my life away from sin, even though my heart loves it? If I
    were to repent from it, I will return back to it'.
    The error is that the devil makes you think in despair that you
    will live in repentance with the same heart that loves sin. On the
    contrary, the Lord will give you a new heart (Ezek 36:25). He
    will remove from you the love of sin, and you will not think
    about returning to it. But on the contrary, in your repentance,
    God will make you hate sin and be disgusted with it. Your
    present feelings will change.
    F.

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