UNBELIEVERS

Unbelievers are "slaves to sin". Without faith, we are not free to completely release our thoughts and actions from sinful influences and simply choose what is good.

Whenever we follow unhealthy appetites or society's lies, we limit our options in the future. A sinful act is another step down a dead-end road; the more steps we take, the harder it gets to make an independent choice in the future.

We are best served and even freest when we use our self-control to submit to God. Yeshua's word brings life. Messiah allows us to be what we were designed to be, to display the glory we were created with. It produces self-control in us, the ability to say "no" to fleshly lusts and live in moderation and wise constraint. Indulging in sin enslaves and destroys us. Self-control frees us to live for God.

We must steep ourselves in the truth. We are no longer bound to the sinful nature. We have been made new. When we know the truth, we can experience freedom. If we believe that we are who God declares us to be, we can more easily act accordingly. When we recognize a sinful impulse, we can declare it to be from the sinful nature and therefore no longer a part of us.

Not only do we need to know the truth about what we are, we need to take practical steps to live out that truth. This means that we focus our minds on things that are pleasing to God.

Cast your anxieties on God. Acting on an impulse is an attempt to manage anxiety. When we take our burdens to the God, we experience more peace and therefore have less need to manage our anxiety with sinful stopgaps.

We can also use our minds and ask for God's wisdom in determining what may be the cause of our sinful impulses. Controlling impulses may mean modifying our lifestyles to remove ourselves from tempting situations, discovering an unmet need that an impulse is attempting to fill, or relying on friends to help hold us accountable. In all of this, we should not forget that God has given us the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not alone in our battle against our sinful impulses. "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control".

Finally, we can remind ourselves of the reason we want to gain control over sinful impulses. It is said "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." At first, controlling sinful impulses may not be pleasant. However, we know that our self-discipline will eventually produce good fruit. The end reward is worth the momentary pain of delayed gratification.