To succeed in anything, the best way to ensure success is to leave no opportunity for failure. This takes planning and implementation. For example, if I go on a carb-free diet and want complete success, I need to remove all carbs from my home. I do not go to my favorite Italian restaurant or stop at the ice cream shop. I plan my meals ahead of time and schedule when I will eat. I prepare carb-free dishes ahead of time so that when I am hungry, a proper option is available. I look at all the danger zones of failure and block their entrance to the best of my ability.
Our lives in Christ should be handled in the same manner. Leaving no opportunity to fail in my Christian walk is the most important planning I will ever do.
First, I need to analyze my life and look at the areas of my life where I am weak. Hebrews 12:1 teaches us to lay aside the sin that so easily besets us. A besetting sin is one that you have indulged in before you became a Christian. These sins are the ones Satan knows us by from our past. He will bring temptations our way with a vengeance. He cannot read your mind but knows you from your past actions. He desires to sift you and cause you to fail. Christians who have returned to their old ways are the best tool Satan has to convince the unsaved that salvation in Jesus Christ is not real. We are to forsake and guard against sins that were part of our lives before Christ. These sins may not be sins such as alcohol consumption that you need to stay away from. They may be pride or laziness that are ingrained in your former character. Therefore, you will need to meditate and study passages that deal with these sins and pray for the Holy Spirit to remind you when you are allowing them back into your life.
Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
Second, leaving no opportunity to sin will be an active battle that must be prepared for. No solider goes to battle without weapons, these will be weapons he has tested and found to be successful. In Ephesians 6:10, Paul instructs us to be strong in the Lord and His strength. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” The warrior who falls is one who faces a battle of his own strength without the proper weapons. In verse 11, we are to “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Each part of our armor is needed to keep sin from penetrating our lives.
Third, we must spend time with God by studying His word. We will gain strength and be able to identify those things that do not please God and hinders our walk with Him. When we identify those things, we need to stay away from them. Romans 13:14 teaches us that we are to “put on the Lord Jesus” and put off making any provision for the flesh. If we leave the door open, we will fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We must pray to resist the temptation of the devil. To be successful in this, we must know the word. We must hide it in our hearts where it is always accessible to us when we need it. That is what Psalm 119:11 is teaching us. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” When we study and pray, we are equipping ourselves to withstand the devil. We are closing the gap where he might enter. We are lessening the opportunity to fail with each decision to obey God at all costs.
Romans 13:14 “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.”
Fourth, we must recognize our risk zone. Is it sensual sins, pride, or materialism? Once we recognize them, we must build defense and protect our relationship with God. We may need to separate from old friends, places we went before we met Christ, reading materials, and things we listened to that did not honor Him.
Fifth, we must keep our hearts soft by repenting as soon as we fail. We must fear God and remember the price He paid for our redemption. We must be proactive at building our lives and leaving no opportunity for sin to enter our lives. Because we still retain our sinful nature after we are saved, it is essential that we pray for wisdom to recognize the temptations Satan will put before us. When we recognize a temptation, we must flee from it and run to God for help. He will always be there to help us overcome sin.
What are you lacking in that causes you to have a window of opportunity to sin? Recognize it, strengthen yourself in the Lord, make up your mind you will not go back, and never bring those things up for review again. Keep pushing forward because our labor is not in vain. One day, we will stand before Him, and if we have diligently followed, we will hear Him say well done, thou good and faithful servant. It will be worth it all!
I Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
